Colchester United manager-in-waiting, Kevin Keen, must have feared the worst when he watched striker Marvin Sordell being stretchered off during last Saturday’s 3-1 defeat at Rochdale.

It looked pretty grim at the time, with obvious concerns over whether Sordell had perhaps damaged medial or cruciate ligaments.

But Keen, who was officially unveiled as the U’s new boss just two days after the Rochdale reverse, revealed ahead of this afternoon’s home match against Southend, that Sordell’s injury was not too serious.

Indeed, there is a fighting chance of the ex-Watford, Bolton and Burnley front-runner returning to the fray before the end of the year.

“It’s good news about Marvin,” enthused Keen.

“Looking at it at the moment, it’s nothing long-term. It’s nothing too serious.

“I saw him get carried off with the challenge (at Rochdale), which was a really poor challenge to be honest with you, and it was a big worry at that stage.

“But fortunately, (physio) Tony Flynn has since said it’s not as bad as we first thought.

“The swelling has come down, and there’s an outside chance of him being available for Gillingham,” added Keen, with reference to the trip to Priestfield on Monday, December 28.

Sordell has yet to really hit top gear with the U’s, since his arrival from Burnely in September.

The 24-year-old ex-Watford marksman played in the Premier League for both Bolton and Burnley, after the former signed him for a £3m fee from Vicarage Road in January, 2012.

Sordell scored just one goal in 20 senior outings for Burnley, before he was released from his Clarets’ contract to resurrect his career at Colchester.

To date, he has bagged five goals in 18 first team appearances for the U’s, although he has not scored a League One goal for two months, since netting in the 4-4 home draw against Walsall on October 24.

Sordell was actually dropped from the starting line-up, for last weekend’s defeat at Rochdale. He did come on as a 64th minute substitute, but only lasted eight minutes before he was stretchered off with a knee injury.

Chris Porter started at Spotland, and actually broke the deadlock with his third goal of an injury-truncated season.