O’s boss assures fans after opening day defeat at Walsall

Orient boss Russell Slade insisted his side will improve following their 1-0 defeat at Walsall on the opening day of the League One season.

Former O’s midfielder Adam Chambers sunk his old team with a wonderful 30-yard strike on 21 minutes, as the visitors struggled to find their form.

They did improve after the break, but Slade said: “It’s a long season, we have got 45 more games and what I do know is that our team will get better, we will improve.”

O’s were without five senior players, including inspirational skipper Stephen Dawson, who all missed the match because of injuries, but Slade refused to use their absences as an excuse.

“It doesn’t help, but we’re hopeful two or three of them could be back for next Saturday. We need them back, because we’re a bit thin on the ground, but that’s not why we lost the football match.”

Orient were slow out of the blocks and the O’s chief admitted: “We were disappointing in the first half. We didn’t pass the ball with enough purpose and we didn’t pass the ball quickly enough. We didn’t create many chances, but neither did they.

“But Chambers scored a fantastic goal from 25 yards and that was the difference.

“We were much better in the second half without threatening too much. Jimmy Smith had a couple of headers and Jamie Cureton put one past the post, but it’s a disappointing result for us.”

Orient have a chance to bounce back as they travel to Southend on Tuesday night to open their Carling Cup campaign, before they entertain Tranmere Rovers next Saturday in a bid to open their League One points account.