SAM Barratt received a late call up to make his first Southend United appearance in 16 months this afternoon.

The winger, who suffered a cruciate ligament injury in August 2018, was originally not in the squad for Blues’ trip to AFC Wimbledon.

But a late withdrawal from John White meant the Shrimpers made a late phone call to Barratt who arrived towards the end of the warm up to be on the bench.

And Campbell opted to bring him on in the closing stages for Jason Demetriou.

“He’s been out for a very long time and he would probably feel he can only do about 10 minutes at the moment,” said Campbell.

“That happened because John White dropped out.

“We had to call him up and get him over.

“Luckily it was a southern based game. We had to get on the blower and get someone in.”

Barratt’s previous Blues’ appearance came on the opening day of last season against Doncaster Rovers at Roots Hall.