Red-hot O’s in pursuit of play-offs

LEYTON Orient are blazing quite a trail in npower League One.

Under the watchful guidance of canny manager Russell Slade, the O’s are seventh in the standings — eight points behind MK Dons in sixth, but with four matches in hand.

The way things are going, few fans of the Brisbane Road outfit will think that is too much of an obstacle to overcome at present.

Since the first day of the year, when Orient were battered 5-0 at Brighton, Slade’s men have embarked on a sequence of only one loss in 16 matches — and that was a five-goal FA Cup replay drubbing at the hands of Premier League title contenders Arsenal.

In among the excellent results are FA Cup wins away at Championship sides Norwich City (1-0) and Swansea (2-1), plus the televised 1-1 fifth-round FA Cup draw with Arsenal which perfectly showcased the team’s resourcefulness.

Even after their thumping at the Emirates, Orient recovered to win both their next two league fixtures 2-0, against Notts County at home and Walsall away.

Star striker Alex Revell is a man Athletic’s rearguard will have to watch closely on Saturday when they make the trip South.

The ex-Southend and Wycombe striker has reportedly attracted the attentions of scouts from higher up football’s food chain after bagging a total of 16 goals in all competitions so far this term.

Veteran forward Scott McGleish (37) isn’t far behind on 13 for the season in what is his third spell at the club.

Defensively, Orient are strong too, conceding only 13 goals in their 15 home games.

It all adds up to a difficult test for Athletic and manager Paul Dickov is under no illusions.

“It will be a tough, tough game for us, but we go there to try to win,” Dickov said.

“It is the same old story — if we can eradicate mistakes and do the basic things properly then we will always have a chance of scoring goals because we will create chances.

“There has been a lot of illness in the club and also tiredness. We have had a ridiculous amount of games in a short space of time.

“The other thing is a loss of confidence. When you are not winning games, you try to find the winning formula.

“I have a squad here and I want to utilise it. Even at the start of the season when we were in the top six I knew we would get a run like this because that is what you get when you are a young group — and that is not just the players, but all of us.

“We need to address it and make sure we get ourselves out of it.

“We have got 11 games left and there is no way we are going to let the season fizzle out because we have put in too much hard work this year.”