Goalkeeper ready for Bristol City challenge

Newham Recorder: O's keeper Alex Cisak saves an Oldham penalty (pic: Simon O'Connor)O's keeper Alex Cisak saves an Oldham penalty (pic: Simon O'Connor) (Image: Simon O'Connor Photography)

Leyton Orient keeper Alex Cisak sees no reason why his side cannot get something out of their clash with League One leaders Bristol City tonight.

Australian Cisak, on loan from Burnley, has kept successive clean sheets in wins against Oldham and Walsall, as Orient have raised hopes of avoiding the drop.

And the 25-year-old is looking for Fabio Liverani’s men to maintain their solid defensive form at Brisbane Road this evening.

He said: “We’ve got two tough games coming up, starting tonight. Bristol City are top for a reason. They’re a really good team.

“But if we defend well and work hard as a team, we can get some points on the board.

“We’ve got some good results lately and keeping two clean sheets is good, but we’ve got to keep the run going.”

Orient have only kept successive clean sheets on two other occasions this season, most recently when they followed a goalless home draw against MK Dons with a 2-0 win at Doncaster in October.

The only other time they managed back-to-back clean sheets was in August, when they were held to a goalless home draw by Walsall, after drawing 0-0 with Bristol City!

Cisak believes they are defending much better now, adding: “We defended well at Walsall, I didn’t have a lot to do there.

“The Oldham game I had more to do (saving a penalty), but the team is defending well as a group, not just the back four.

“When you’re not conceding, you know if you score you’re going to win games.

“We’ve got to keep defending well and I’ve got faith in the strikers to score goals.”

Bristol City are eight points clear at the top of the table, having won their last two fixtures against Doncaster and Rochdale following a shock 3-2 reverse at struggling Colchester.

But Cisak is glad to see former Oldham team-mate Matt Smith has returned to parent club Fulham, after netting seven goals in 14 league appearances for the Robins.

And he is hoping to extend his own stay in east London, if Orient and Burnley can come to an agreement on the deal.

He added: “I know Matt Smith scored a few goals for them on loan so it’s good for us that he has gone back.

“I’m enjoying it here. It’s good to get games and I’m happy to help the club.

“We’ve had three wins in five and I want to help the team stay up. I would be happy to stay until the end of the season, but it’s in the hands of the clubs.”

*Bristol City midfielder Korey Smith has warned his team-mates not to take Orient lightly this evening.

O’s have lost 10 of their 16 home games so far this season, but Smith, a team-mate of Alex Cisak at Oldham in 2013, told the Bristol Post: “They are fighting for survival. If I was in their position, I would really want to fight and try as hard as I could to stay in the league.

“Orient are a good side. They have good players and we can’t underestimate them. We are aware of what they can do and we work hard on every team.”