James Olayinka has returned to Southend United and joined the team in training, according to his loan club’s manager Mark Molesley.

Arsenal loanee James Olayinka joined Southend United on loan at the start of the season, initially only signing on a short-term deal to January. An extension was then thrown into doubt by an ankle ligament injury in the middle of the winter window.

However, Southend made the decision to extend anyway. Olayinka then returned to Arsenal for his rehabilitation over the last few weeks.

The good news is that he’s now closing in on a return to the pitch. Speaking to the media, Mark Molesley confirmed that Olayinka is back in Southend and has rejoined their training sessions.

“James Olayinka was back in the building today for the first time,” Molesley said. “It was great to see his face and see him training. We will need to build him up in training and build his minutes too. He’s not immediately ready but hopefully, he’s not too far away.”

Olayinka made 16 appearances and scored three goals from midfield in the first half of the campaign.

Southend have just about dragged themselves out of the relegation zone, but the teams below have games in hand and there’s still plenty of work to do to stay up. They’ll hope Olayinka can provide a boost to keep them in League Two.