As players come back things will improve

Manager Russell Slade believes that as Orient’s injury-list starts to shrink his side’s fortunes will improve.

The O’s recorded their first league win of the season last weekend as they ended Preston’s seven-match winning streak.

“I think that’s key to our progress now that we have got players coming back,” said Slade.

“It was nice to see a more solid bench than what we have had in recent weeks and, fingers crossed, that can only get better.

“The likes of Jamie Cureton coming on and getting his five or 10 minutes is encouraging.”

The O’s had to recover from an awful start after Paul Coutts put Preston ahead after just two minutes.

“We dug in and had to show some real, real character, particularly in the second period, and also from coming back from a goal down,” said the O’s boss.

“We didn’t start too well. I changed the shape to match their diamond and then I thought we started to get Dean Cox on the ball and the little man was a thorn in their side and he’s come up with a little header and a great second finish to put us 2-1 up and two pieces of real quality have got us on top in the game.”

After taking a point at title-chasing Huddersfield and then beating Preston, Slade admitted: “We’re Leyton Orient, we don’t do it the easy way. We seem to wait for the big guns to come out before maybe we put in the performance we require.

“But we are still in a precious position as it stands and we need to use that as a platform for digging in and getting some more results in the near future.”

Slade also praised the Orient supporters: “They have been magnificent. They have stayed with me and they have stayed with the team,” he said.

“I think that they believe the team is trying and believe the position in the table is not a true reflection on the state of the football club and how we are playing at the minute.

“It’s not perfect, it’s a long way from being perfect, but hopefully it’s a big turning point and some of the qualities we have shown so much in the last 18 months were there to see against Preston.”