Leyton Orient midfielder Bradley Pritchard is hoping his side can build on their 6-1 victory over Staines Town in the FA Cup last weekend. Pritchard missed out on the win after serving his one match suspension but is set to return to the squad ahead of tomorrow’s televised trip to Hartlepool.

Speaking to leytonorient.com yesterday, the midfielder stated“the boys did really well, it was good for the confidence and for a couple of the boys to get on the score sheet. We put in a performance that is something we can build on”. Orient have struggled after a fine start to the season, with last week’s win only their third since the end of August. But Pritchard was happy that how his teammates showed professionalism to progress to the second round of the cup, “It didn’t really matter about Staines or their position, it was more a case of being professional about it and doing it the right way”.

Ollie Palmer struck twice in the victory over Staines, with his first goals in 18 matches since he struck against Stevenage in mid August. Palmer spoke after the victory to leytonorient.com “It was about time to get a couple of goals, it felt good to get them early on and probably help settle the team down”. Palmer made the summer switch to E10 from Mansfield and has found a frustrating period in front of goal. But is now looking to push on “as a forward it is what you want to be doing, I have been a bit unfortunate of late but I am glad to get off the mark now and want to take it in to Hartlepool away”.

Despite the comprehensive result, Palmer revealed that his manager, Ian Hendon was far from happy about his side conceding against the Ryman Premier side. Palmer stated “At times, we were a bit sloppy, gaffer was not happy that we still conceded a goal, that’s football, came away with a 6-1 win, a clear result and got to be happy with that”.

• Only kept 4 clean sheets in the league this season – only kept 1 in the last 13 matches in all competitions
• Kept 3 in the first 4 matches of the season

Ian Hendon was happy with how his players started the game last weekend with the O’s netting three times in the first 13 minutes to put the game to bed early on. Speaking post match to leytonorient.com “It was always going to be tough, these games are not easy but got to say credit to the players, they came out and started the game well, put on a good performance and the main thing through to the next round”. Hendon thought his side could have scored even more “we should have had more, we had some good chances in the 2^nd half to finish the game off”.

Hendon would have been happy with Pamer netting a couple of goals alongside John Marquis scoring his first from the club. Freddy Moncur and Scott Kashet also played their part with good involvement in the second half with Kashket assisting Marquis’s goal. Both had good involvement however Jack Payne was replaced with an injury with Hendon revealing “we are looking to add to the squad, I had a meeting with the president and we discussed it”.

Key Stats

• Orient only lost 1 of their last 5 away games – drawing 3, 1-1
• Scored 16 goals in the second half on matches – including 14 in last 30 minutes
• Orient have gained 8 points in last 30 minutes of matches and would sit 17^th if games ended after 60 minutes
• Orient have conceded 6 of their 13 goals away from home between minutes 31-45
• Only failed to score in 2 games this season
• Record when scoring 1^st – W7 L1 – away W3, L1
• Record when conceding first – D5, L3 – away D3, L1
• Form in last 8 games – W2, D3, L3 F11 A11

Hartlepool picked up their first win in four matches after progressing to round 2 of the FA Cup after a 1-0 victory over Cheltenham last weekend. Pool sit 19^th in league 2 with only 17 points from 16 games and face a testing run of fixtures. Ahead of the visit of Orient tomorrow, Ronnie Moore’s side face 6 of the top 7 in their next 6 leagues matches and a tough trip to Salford City in round 2 of the cup.

Moore spoke after the Cheltenham victory to hartlepoolunited.com “it was one of them, we never got going from start to finish, we have played a lot better and lost games. Take the win which is the most important thing, sometimes not how you play but we got lucky today”. Moore added “you know this maybe the kick up the backside they need to get us going in league games. We have killed not winning at home but that was a long 90 minutes”.

• Home Record – P8, W2, D2, L4 F8 A13
• Form in last 8 – W2, D1, L5, F7, A 15
• Picked up first home win in 9 matches in all competitions
• Picked up 6 of their 8 home points in first two home games of season
• Since victory over Newport on 18^th August, Pool only taken 2 points from last 18 available at home

Despite the victory Moore was far from happy with his side in possession, “we have to keep the ball, take the game to the opposition, we sat back. I don’t know how we are in the draw but we need to make sure we kick on, there is still a lot of work to do, we know that but for some reason we are a bag of nerves here”.

Moore’s side host Leyton Orient tomorrow lunchtime with both looking to build on victories last weekend. Moore spoke yesterday to hartlepoolunited.com “it is a great honour to be on the TV, what we have to do now is play, our form hasn’t been brilliant but it is an ideal opportunity to now put that right against a very good Orient team”.  Moore understands the importance of his side’s form improving with key games in the coming weeks “It is a massive month for us to be fair, 6 out of the top 7 coming up, as a footballer the games you want, there is quite a lot happening in the next month”.

Ronnie Moore kept Pool up last season in what could be described as a miracle escape but has found it hard this time around. Moore’s side have only won twice in the last 8 league matches, sitting 8 points above the relegation zone. The Hartlepool manager has added to his squad ahead of tomorrow with Mikael Mandrom joining on loan from Sunderland and Kal Naismith joining on loan from Portsmouth this week. Moore spoke about “the new faces help the squad, bench now becomes stronger, sometimes the road you have to go down, we have given the players here enough opportunities and it hasn’t happened”.

Key Stats

• Kept 4 clean sheets – 2 in their last 5 games
• Failed to score in 5 games – 2 of those at home
• Billy Paynter top scorer with 7 goals – 1 in his last 4 matches
• In fact Paynter has been involved in 9 of their 15 goals (60%)
• Record when they have scored first – W4, D1, L1 – at home W1, D1, L1
• Conceded first – W1, L8 – at home L3
• Pool have conceded 13 goals at home – 11 in the second half and 5 in minutes 76-90

Team News

Moore can include Carl Magnay who is back following his suspension last week while Scott Harrison has overcome a hamstring problem. Both Kal Naismith and Mikael Mandram were registered in time for tomorrow’s game and both trained this morning.

Moore understands the threat that Orient could pose at Victoria Road tomorrow “They are a bit like ourselves, have a new manager in there and are exciting going forward. Cox is the main one that people know but they have Palmer and Simpson. The back is strong and built on experience, we know it is going to be a real tough game” He added “if we don’t play to our best, we will get beat so it is important that we turn up and make it a competition. We need to show everyone how Hartlepool can play”

Orient boss Ian Hendon can include Bradley Pritchard who served a one match suspension last week but Jack Payne remains a doubt following an injury picked up against Staines. Alex Cisak misses out as he is away on International duty with Austrailia so Charlie Grainger is set to deputise while Connor Essam and Paul McCallum remain sidelined with injury.

Hendon revealed this lunchtime that Dean Cox has suffered cruciate ligament damage to his right knee and will be sidelined for 6 months. Hendon spoke to leytonorient.com “we are all gutted for Dean, he is going to be a massive loss for us as he has been back to his best in recent games”

• Cox has been involved in 10 goals this term – scoring 3 and assisting 7

Hendon stated after the victory over Staines “we had a look at them, we put out a team which we thought would perform and cause them problems. We will look at Hartlepool aswell and do the same, however we play, there is a purpose in what we do”

Head to Head – Hartlepool 17, Draw 9, Leyton Orient 18

Last Meeting – 16/02/2013 – Hartlepool 2-1 Leyton Orient

• Orient have won 1 of last 4 meetings – a 1-0 victory at home in 2012
• Won 2 of their last 5 trips to Hartlepool – both 1-0

Prediction: Hartlepool 1-2 Leyton Orient