Southend United striker Martin Carruthers has rushed to the hospital bedside of his older brother, who has been seriously injured in a Nottingham gun attack.

The Third Division club's 17-goal top-scorer joined the rest of his family in the East Midlands after Jason Carruthers was shot in Ridgeway Street, St Ann's, in the early hours of Monday morning.

The 29-year-old is currently being treated at Nottingham's Queens Medical centre, where he underwent three hours of surgery on a stomach wound. His condition has been described as stable.

This Is Essex at Easter

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The team at This Is Essex would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very happy Easter. Blues boss Alan Little was not prepared to make any comment regarding matters outside the club, but did confirm that his front-runner had been missing from the training field this week.

"Martin's had a few days off because of personal problems, but he is expected back at work today," said the Shrimpers chief today (Thursday).

"He is ready to resume training and will be available for selection for our next fixture at Shrewsbury Town this Saturday."

Jason Carruthers is the third person to be injured following a total of 11 gun ambushes in the Nottingham area this year.

In response the local police force has launched the Operation Real Estate initiative, which has seen 43 people arrested in connection with a series of alleged shooting and drug offences in and around Nottingham during the last four months.

Det Supt Colin Warburton of Nottingham police's major crimes unit said: "I've never known of such a series of shootings to take place in such a short space of time.

"It is vital that people come forward and help us with our enquiries as these incidents must not be allowed to continue."

Martin Carruthers, who is two years younger than his injured brother, joined Southend from Darlington for £30,000 last October and has been a massive success since moving south from the basement league promotion chasers. However, the Nottingham-born hitman was not available for comment.

Blues' penultimate second-string clash at Underhill against Barnet was postponed on Wednesday as another fixture fell foul of the weather.

The Shrimpers will announce a new date for the reserve team game in the near future.

Family crisis - for Martin Carruthers

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