French forward eyes a starting spot

JONATHAN TEHOUE hopes that his last-gasp goal against Arsenal might earn him a place in the starting line-up when the O’s travel to Huddersfield at the weekend.

The French striker came off the bench after 63 minutes and fired home an excellent leveller on Sunday to earn the O’s a money-spinning replay at The Emirates next Wednesday.

It was Tehoue’s ninth goal of the season – and every single one has come from the bench.

But now the 26-year-old striker wants to shake off that supersub tag and admitted: “Every player wants to start the game, so it’s not nice to be on the bench all the time.

“But you have to remain professional and I know I’m still a little bit overweight and recovering from injuries.”

Tehoue, hopes he has now turned the corner. “I know I am still struggling to get my fitness, but I always want to start and you will get fit if you start every game,” he said.

Orient boss Russell Slade admitted: “Jonathan has made a reputation for himself as a supersub and to come on and bag his ninth goal with just a couple of minutes to go against Arsenal was perfect timing.”

Tehoue’s pace and power caused Arsenal problems as soon as he came on and he capped a fine performance with the equaliser.

With just a minute to go the Frenchman burst between Arsenal defenders Kieran Gibbs and Ignasi Miguel, before hammering the ball under Manuel Almunia from 16 yards.

“When I went on the manager told me I could cause them problems, because they had a young boy (Miquel) at centre half,” said Tehoue.

“So he wanted me to cause them problems and I think I did. When I scored the goal I didn’t really think about what I was going to do. I just saw that the two defenders were hesitating to attack me, so I went through and took my chance.

“It was a great moment, a great night for us – all the team and the whole club as well.

“It meant a great deal to me to score. Even in France people watch the FA Cup.”