Frenchman not needed in shoot-out

Romain Vincelot was down to take Leyton Orient’s fifth penalty in their Johnstone’s Paint Trophy clash with Coventry last night.

But he was happy not to be needed as Lloyd James sealed a 4-2 win on spot-kicks to send the east Londoners into the next round.

The scoreline had remained blank after 90 minutes but, with no extra time period used in the competition, O’s went through after Franck Moussa and John Fleck missed for the visitors.

“I was number five (in the penalty line-up). I was ready to do it, but they did the job before that,” Vincelot said, who felt two key elements saw Orient throgh the nervous shoot-out in confident fashion.

“We practised yesterday (Monday) and every time before a cup game,” he added.

“All in the team, we have good technique and it’s all about technique and confidence. At the minute we have the technique and we act more confident as well.”

Vincelot returned from suspension, following his sending-off against Walsall, and was pleased to be back in action so soon having missed Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Oldham.

He added: “That’s always hard, to see the boys playing without you, so it was good to get back. I was happy that there was a Tuesday game so it was not a long wait.”

Coventry proved stiff opponents on the night, much like in the Capital One Cup tie in August when Kevin Lisbie’s last-minute header sent Orient through.

“We know that they are a good team,” said Vincelot. “They play from the back so we stuck to the plan which was being solid, hold the ball at the back and then press to the right areas”

Next on the agenda for Vincelot and the League One-leading O’s is the visit of MK Dons to Brisbane Road on Saturday.

And the Frenchman believes the result against Coventry gives Orient the perfect platform to build on going into the weekend.

“That’s good preparation for MK Dons,” he said.

“There are a few good teams (in League One), but we are at the top so it is even harder maybe because they come here with a little bit of hunger because we are top of the league.”