But his loan spell at Orient could be coming to an end

ORIENT manager Russell Slade was full of praise for goalkeeper Jason Brown, after the stopper made a string of fine second half saves to secure his team three points against Tranmere.

The 28-year-old, on loan from Blackburn Rovers, denied Scott Mantom, Enoch Showunmi and Jermaine Grandison with spectacular stops in quick succession, as the O’s battled to only their second away win of the season.

Boss Slade was delighted with the Welsh international’s performance and the efforts of his patched up team.

“He just showed what a class keeper he is, because good keepers make saves at the crucial times and he must have made four crucial saves today and that kept us in the driving seat,” he said.

“We were a little bit patched up. The regular centre halves were missing, we’ve no ‘Chambo’ (Adam Chambers), no ‘Coxy’ (Dean Cox), so we’re all putting a shift in and all working hard together to dig out a result.

“I’m really proud of them, because he’s not particularly familiar with it is Elliot (Omozusi) and ‘Whingy’ (Andrew Whing) has not played an awful lot of football, but they gave everything, I can’t ask for anymore.

“To wait so long for an away win and then get two out of three is really gratifying. This is not an easy place to come and get a result, so I’m really pleased for them. All that hard work is starting to show on the pitch because we’re quite capable of getting a goal, that’s the positive thing about us.

“I thought we were really comfortable until they scored their goal and then they started to put the pressure on and they’ll feel as if they should have got back in the game.

“They hit the crossbar and on another day they could have got a point, but how many times have we been there this season?”

Brown has made five appearances for the O’s since making the move from Ewood Park on November 19, a period in which Slade’s side have gone unbeaten in the league and advanced to round three of the FA Cup.

But with the former Gillingham keeper’s loan deal set to expire next week, the Orient manager would not confirm whether Brown was likely to extend his stay at Brisbane Road.

“A lot depends on how quickly we get ‘Jonesy’ (Jamie Jones) back and fit,” said Slade.

But with Jones coming through a reserve team encounter today (Tuesday), Saturday’s match against Plymouth could be Brown’s last for the club.