SOUTHEND United boss Kevin Maher does not know if defenders Harry Taylor and Nathan Ralph will be fit enough to feature against Gillingham tomorrow.

Taylor suffered a nasty cut on his forehead during the opening pre-season clash at Great Wakering while Ralph injured his ankle at Bishop’s Stortford last Saturday.

And Maher will make a late check on their availability this weekend.

“They’re both touch and go,” said Maher.

“We want to give them as long as possible to make sure they’re right rather than risking anything so we’ll leave it as long as we can to see where they’re at.”

Midfielder Noor Husin remains sidelined after having surgery on his shin.

But Husin has started to step up his rehabilitation work.

“Noor started straight line running again yesterday,” said Maher.

“That’s the first part for him but it was good to see him back outside.”

And Maher is doing all he can to get his squad in the best shape possible.”

“It’s so hard to manage getting everyone the right minutes and to the right level of fitness but every manager has that challenge,” said Maher.

“We’re a little bit short of bodies.”

Former Southampton defender Zuriel Otseh-Taiwo is again expected to feature as a trialist for Blues.

The match kicks off at 1pm.