Leyton Orient manager Ian Hendon insists the pressure is all on Scunthorpe ahead of tomorrow’s FA Cup second round replay. The sides drew 0-0 at Brisbane Road 9 days ago and with the winners set to face a glamour tie away to Chelsea, Hendon knows his side are the underdogs.

Orient drew 1-1 away to Mansfield on Saturday, their fourth draw in a row with Jay Simpson netting his 16th goal of the season. Ian Hendon spoke to leytonorient.com post match “It was a point gained, the conditions were very difficult out there, we went a goal up then conceded a sloppy goal. It was a difficult one to concede but it was a point gained”.

The game survived a pre match pitch inspection but Hendon was happy with the way his side defended apart from the goal “it was a difficult game, their the home team, you expect them to come out and have a go, they did. I don’t think Alex had a lot to do” He added “The boys dug in, in horrible conditions, we have come away from home and didn’t get beat. I am not saying it was a good performance, it was a scrappy performance”.

The East London side have had one eye on their potential third round Chelsea but Hendon insists his side are now fully focused on their next game. “Scunthorpe is our next game but that has been on the back burner, we have been trying to concentrate on this. We will prepare Monday for the game Tuesday”.

• Away Record – P11 W3 D5 L3  F15  A18
• Failed to score in 3 games – scoring in all but one away match this season
• Have scored in 15 of their last 17 matches in all competitions
• Only kept 1 clean sheet in 13 away matches in all competitions

Midfielder Lloyd James has recently regained his place in the side after injuries in the squad and is happy to be playing a part. Speaking to leytonorient.com after the game “it is good to be back, I have been out of team and worked my socks off to be back. I am hoping I can keep my place with a lot of the lads coming back”. James knows the importance of his side continuing their unbeaten run “we are unbeaten in 5, we need to keep it going, but sooner rather than later we have to turn this draws in to wins”.

The former Southampton trainee added “tuesday’s another game, we have got to get heads around it now, we have to work hard tomorrow, we look forward to Tuesday and hopefully to get a positive result”. Orient took 444 travelling fans to Mansfield and James is hoping for similar support at Glanford Park tomorrow night with the club offering free coach travel “it was a fantastic effort from the fans, we really appreciate it and we hope they can come Tuesday”.

• Orient have reached the 3rd round in 3 of the last 5 seasons 
• Their longest recent run came when they reached the fifth round in 2011 when they forced Arsenal to a replay

Jay Simpson netted his 16th goal in 23 games this season as he continues to keep Orient ticking along. No player has scored more goals in the top four English leagues this season. James understands the importance of the striker “he is on fire and long may that continue, fair play to him it was a great finish and a great ball from Jobi”.

• 7 of Simpson’s 16 have been scored away from home
• Simpson has netted 5 of Orient’s last 6 goals
• He has netted in his last 4 league appearances 

Scunthorpe head into tomorrow’s meeting on the back of a 1-1 draw away to Port Vale on Saturday. Jack King netted his first for the club but AJ Leith Smith grabbed a point for Vale, leaving Scunthorpe without a win in their last 3. Iron boss Mark Robins spoke to scunthorpe-united.net post match “it was tough, the conditions determined the game, to come away with a point in the end was good”

• Scunthorpe have only reached the third round in one of the last 4 seasons
• Scunthorpe have only won 1 of their last 7 home FA Cup ties – W1 D2 L4

The Iron have seen their form dip since their first round victory over Southend in early November, with just one win in their last 6 games. However Robins added “they had a few good chances, they threw everything at us and we had a go at them but sometimes you have to be happy and take the point”. Scunthorpe were one of the form sides in October but Robins is hoping that his side can get back to their flowing football on Tuesday night, “we seemed to play within ourselves and take the easy option but we take the point and prepare for Tuesday”

• Scunthorpe took 15 points from a possible 18 in October – losing only once

Goalscorer Jack King was happy with his sides performance but insists there is more to come. Speaking to scunthorpe-united.net “today was a more improved performance, it was by no means the complete package, we did certain things right but we are going to mistakes” The midfielder who joined in the summer from Preston added “it is never easy in this league to go away and get a result. We have not had the results at home in the last couple, other than that the performances have been good but we need to get back to winning ways”

• Home record – P10 W5 D1 L4  F8  A9
• Last 6 at home (most recent first) – LLWWWW
• 3 of the 5 home wins have been by a 1 goal margin
• Dagenham and Scunthorpe have scored the least goals at home – 8

King knows the importance of his sides battling performance in the first game, giving them the opportunity to face Chelsea in January. “That is the beauty of the FA Cup, we kept ourselves in it in the first game, they will be relishing it, both teams know the reward”

Key statistics

• Sit 14th in League 1 with 27 points from 21 games
• Last 6 games (most recent first) – DDLWLL
• Form in last 8 league matches – P8 W3 D1 L4  F10  A12
• Kept 7 clean sheets this season – kept 1 in the last 7 games and just 1 in their last 5 home matches
• Failed to score in 5 home matches –  including 3 of their last 5 games and their last 2 home matches
• Record scored first – W7 D2 L2 – home record – W4 
• In those 4 home wins, Scunthorpe did not concede a goal
• Record conceding first – W1 L8 – home – W1 L4
• Paddy Madden top scorer with 10 goals – 5 of the 8 home goals have been scored by Madden
• Without Madden’s goals, Scunthorpe would have 16 points and sit bottom of league 1
• He has gained 11 points for the Iron this season

Team News

Midfielder Neal Bishop is doubt after suffering a dead leg in the League One against Port Vale on Saturday. David Mirfin , Gary McSheffery and Stephen Dawson all  remain on the sidelines

Orient are set to be without long term absentees Paul McCallum, Dean Cox and Sammy Moore while on loan QPR defender Cole Kpekawa is cup tied. Fraser Shaw looks to set to return after being on the bench on Saturday.

Ian Hendon last thoughts “It is a prize but we have to beat Scunthorpe first and foremost. Any celebrations have to come after the game, we are not there yet. It is a great carrot to be dangled, if the players need any motivation then that is it. We are the underdogs, we are away from home and the pressure is on them”

Head to Head – Scunthorpe 19, Draw 19, Leyton Orient 16

Last Meeting – 05/12/2015 – Leyton Orient 0-0 Scunthorpe

• Orient have won 1 of their last 6 meetings with the Iron
• Orient have won 2 of their last 3 visits to Glanford Park – including a 2-1 victory last season

Prediction – Scunthorpe 1-2 Leyton Orient AET