Midfielder wants to reach double figures

Orient midfielder Jimmy Smith is keen to keep his goalscoring run going as his side head to MK Dons for tonight’s game.

Smith popped up with his seventh goal of the season on Saturday as Orient beat Brentford and it took him a step closer to fulfilling an ambition.

“I always set myself a target of double figures every year. That’s my goal,” admitted the Newham-born midfielder after Saturday’s win.

“I’ve got seven now for the season and I would love to get three more.”

The 25-year-old former Chelsea man has never hit double figures in a campaign.

“I got nine last season and if I could go one better that would be brilliant,” he said. “I would take that coming from midfield.”

However, Smith would happily sacrifice his target if Orient keep picking up points.

“At the end of the day it’s the victory that’s the most important thing and I don’t mind who scores as long as we keep winning,” he said.

O’s have found life difficult at home this season and the success against Brentford was only their fifth league triumph at Brisbane Road this term and their first since the end of December.

But Smith has a theory as to why the O’s have struggled on their own turf this term.

“Teams know about us now. We were only one point off the play-offs last season and I think teams come to our ground now and park the bus and it’s hard to get through them,” he said.

“This year we have found it harder at home, but the win against Brentford will give us a lift and we have got to look to push on now.

“We will go to MK Dons looking to win the game, but this is a tough month for us and we have got games coming out of our ears at the moment.

“It will also be tough against Sheffield Wednesday at the weekend, but we have got to get some more points on the board to pull away from the bottom.”

Smith admits it was uncomfortable last week with the O’s just two places off the drop zone.

“I watch Sky Sports all the time, but when the tables were coming on I had to switch over,” he smiled.

Saturday’s win opened up a seven-point gap between Orient and the bottom four and Smith wants to put even more daylight between his side and the drop zone.

“We have just got to keep focusing on each game as it comes and push on,” he said. “We have had a few injuries and that’s what has killed us this season.

“But we have got a good side here. If we get the ball down early and pass it we can kill teams off and I think we did that in the first half against Brentford.

“We had good movement and if we do that no team can handle us.”