Orient manager Russell Slade admits he had to do major surgery in the summer Pic: Simon O'Connor

With a small squad players will get their chance

Orient manager Russell Slade will issue a rallying cry to his squad as they prepare for Saturday’s League One opener at Tranmere Rovers.

The O’s go into the season with a squad of just 20 players – including goalkeeper Lee Butcher who will be out of action until the New Year.

With Jamie Jones also fighting to be fit, Slade believes that all of his squad have an important part to play.

The boss likes to break the season down into small blocks of matches and said: “The first block of games are going to be tough, especially with a small squad and with the games coming thick and fast.

“Everyone is going to have to play their part and everyone will get an opportunity.”

After Saturday’s opener at Tranmere O’s have a tough home match on Tuesday against a Stevenage side who made the play-offs last season.

The O’s then entertain Hartlepool United, before trips to two of the sides who won promotion last season – Crawley Town and Swindon – before a home date with Brentford.

With eight new signings in a squad of 20, which includes Moses Odubajo and Billy Lobjoit, Slade is hoping the team gels quickly, although he admitted: “You have to be realistic, when you have so many new players, it is never going to all fall into place at the start, that’s a false expectation.

“It is going to take time for things to settle.

“Two seasons ago when we were in a similar situation, it took us a little while to get going.

“The new players will need time.

“We have had to do some major surgery during the summer, as there were holes that needed to be filled.

“We lost Stephen Dawson who was a very influential figure and hopefully we won’t have a situation like last season where we ended up using 10 different left-backs and six different goalkeepers.