Leyton Orient first team coach Kevin Nugent is hoping his side build on their draw with League leaders Plymouth on Tuesday. Orient led for the majority of the contest after Jay Simpson netted his 14th goal of the season but were pegged back in the final 10 minutes. Nugent spoke to leytonorient.com  earlier today stating “we were organised and very very hard working, possibly should have come away with 3 points, thought we probably deserved it”

Orient had been on a run of sticky results but Nugent hopes 4 points from the last 2 games is a sign of things to come, “their is a good spirit at the moment, everyone at the training ground is pretty buzzy. We want to get ourselves picking up a few more wins”. With 3 out of their next 4 league matches at home, Nugent is hoping his side show some consistency,”There will always be ups and downs right the way through the season, the key is not to get carried away when winning and not to get despondent when losing”

• Home record – P9 W5 D2 L2 – 17 points
• Won their last 2 at home and 3 of their last 5 home matches
• Last 8 form – P8 W2 D3 L3
• Orient have only failed to score in 1 of 9 matches in all competitions at home
• Orient have only failed to score in 1 of their last 14 games in all competitions

Manager Ian Hendon described the performance at Plymouth as “one of our best performances away from home”. Speaking post match to leytonorient.com he stated “we came to the side at the top of the table, stuck at it 1st half, got the goal and has something to hold on to. 2nd half the boys were fantastic, created numerous chances but conceded from a set piece”. However, despite only drawing the game Hendon was upbeat ahead of Wimbledon tomorrow “if we said we would come and get a point, we would have taken it”.

Hendon named recent signings Cole Kpekawa and Jean-Yves M’Voto at center back as Mathieu Baudry missed out due to injury but was pleased with their partnership. “They had an hour together on Saturday, thought they did well. Cole is a young lad and settled in nicely whilst Jean brings experience, we are really pleased with them”.  But Jay Simpson was substituted due to injury with Hendon revealing “it was a little bit of a twist more than anything else”

• Orient have named a different back 4 in their last 3 matches

But the most pleasing part for Hendon was the resilience his side showed in the second half as they limited Plymouth to little on goal. Hendon stated “I will be honest I have never doubted our ability to be able to be up there, think today it showed me a different side of my players, what you put that down to who knows”. Hendon also revealed that he set his side up to be compact at Home Park which could please supporters after recent shaky moments at the back “we planned on coming and being tight, defending well which we did for the majority of the game and limited them to very little chances”

• 1 clean sheet in last 16 games in all competitions
• Without a clean sheet in last 7 home games but 3 of their 4 clean sheets come at home

Wimbledon arrive in E10 after a disappointing 1-0 home defeat to Dagenham & Redbridge on Tuesday night but manager Neal Ardley was pleased with his sides performances. Ardley stated to afcwimbledon.co.uk after the defeat “I am not sure we did quite enough to win” however after sleeping on the game Ardley revealed that he was too harsh on his players earlier today.

Speaking to afcwimbledon.co.uk looking ahead to tomorrow’s meeting with Orient, Ardley stated “I came in and held my hands up, I watched the game back and we were excellent in so many ways. The energy levels, transitions and effort levels of the player were so good, we totally dominated that game from start to finish” But despite the performance Ardley knows that with his side sitting just 3 points outside the play off places results are important.

• Sit 11th on 27 points – P19 W7 D6 L6 F25 A25
• Away record – W3 D4 L2 F12 A11 – 13 points
• 2 of their 3 away wins been by 1 goal
• Last 8 form – W3 D2 L3 – 11 points
• Without a win in their last 4 games but did win 4 of their 7 games in October
• Only scored in 2 of their last 4 games – failing to score in 2
• Won 2 of their last 3 away games and unbeaten in their last 3
• Kept 3 clean sheets in the league – 2 in their last 4 games
• Failed to score in 5 games – 3 of them away from home
• 48% of their goals conceded are in the last 15 minutes of each half
• Have scored 32% of their goals in last 15 minutes of games, gaining 6 points
• Only Bristol Rovers and Carlisle have gained more
• Record scoring first – W4 D3 L1 – away record W1, D2 L0
• Unbeaten in last 7 games after scoring first taking 15 from possible 21 points
• Record conceding first – W3, D2, L5 – away record W2 D1 L2
• Lost 4 out of last 6 when they have conceded first

A concerning statistic for the Wombles is that they have only scored 2 goals in their last 4 games but Ardley is not concerned despite the goals drying up. “I would be more worried if we didn’t look like scoring, we just have to keep going and believing. I think we have got good players all over the pitch and haven’t seen man better than us” Ardley added “there are a lot of good things about us and our team at the moment, we just have to keep going and attacking teams”

Sammy Moore moved across London from KingsMeadow to Brisbane Road in the summer after spending 5 seasons with the Wombles. Ardley revealed “I am delighted he got the move and delighted he has gone on to show what he is about there. I am sure the fans will welcome him back with open arms” Dons midfielder Sean Rigg highlighted that “it is always nice to see old friends and play against old mates but we will go there with confidence and sure we can pick up the 3 points”

Rigg understands that it is not just the frontment who have to contribute towards the goals “it is all about crosses, we have to supply the strikers with crosses and then we have to try and chip in with goals, everyone has got to try and chip in”. Despite defeat last time out, Rigg knows that Wimbledon are in a good position to push on at an important time of the season “it is a long season, we are just 3 points off play offs, there is a long way to go, we are in a great position”

Team News

Orient will be without long term absentees Paul McCallum and Dean Cox while Connor Essam is nearing on a return. Charlie Grainger looks set to miss out after overcoming an appenditicis with the only doubts with Mathieu Baudry and Jay Simpson who will have to undergo late fitness tests.

Hendon is eyeing a win to end a run of three games in seven days “it is important to get a win against Wimbledon , it is the next game and all we are focusing on”. Nugent echoed Hendon words stating “consistency is important if you can get on a run in these league you will move up and we feel that we can”.

Wimbledon look to have a fully fit squad ahead of the trip to the Matchroom stadium apart from Andy Barcham and James O’Shea who are overcoming injuries. Ardley praised the work that Hendon has done since his appointment in the summer “Ian has done a great job, they have alot of good players, they are a big club. It will be exciting, we don’t fear losing games of football, you lose them in every division and we will go there and have a real good go. We will try and play our best and put a performance that ours fans will be proud of”

Head to Head

After AFC Wimbledon’s formation in 2002, this will be the first meeting between the two sides.

Prediction – Leyton Orient 3-1 Wimbledon

Marquis to score first