Leyton Orient manager Ian Hendon is hoping his side have the perfect start to 2016 tomorrow as they travel to Stevenage. The O’s lost 2-1 away to Bristol Rovers last Monday but Hendon knows that his side are still in the mix at the turn of the year.

• Orient have lost  4 of their last 5 opening fixtures in January, their only win came in 2012, in a 1-0 win at Stevenage
• 22 of Orient 36 points have come against sides in the bottom half of the league
• However all 3 defeats to teams in bottom half came away from home

Orient sit just a point outside the play off places but their inconsistent form could prove troublesome in the second half of the season. Hendon spoke to leytonorient.com earlier today “we are still in the mix and a couple of wins would make things look a lot rosier, we aren’t far off”. Hendon’s men have picked up 4 points from a possible 9 in their festive fixtures but the Orient boss knows that “games are played on fine margins”

• League Record – P24 W9 D9 L6 F38 A33
• Away Record – P12 W3 D5 L4 F16 A20
• Form in last 8 games – W2 D4 L2
• Only have 1 win in their last 10 away league matches and 1 win in their last 12 in all competition on their travels

Midfielder Jack Payne was left frustrated after his sides defeat in Bristol and knows Orient have to learn lessons quick if they are to challenge this season. Payne spoke to leytonorient.com “it was much of the same, give away sloppy goals, make it too hard for ourselves to get back into games. We have to learn pretty quick otherwise we will fall too far away from chasing pack and play offs”.

• All 5 of Orient’s draw away from home have been 1-1
• Only failed to score in 2 league matches and scored in their last 8 league matches
• In 18 of their 24 league matches, both teams have scored
• Have scored 2 or more goals in 10 games but have only netted 2 or more in 2 of their last 11 matches

With Orient’s fixture with Newport County next weekend rearranged due to the Welsh’s club progression in the FA Cup, a win will help Orient before the 2 week window without a game. Payne understands that effort doesn’t always mean points on the board, “the effort was there in the 2nd half but it doesn’t count for anything if you don’t get any points, it doesn’t really matter how well you play, we need to get points on the table”.

• Orient have only scored 5 goals in the second half of away matches, 4 of those came in the opening 5 away games of the season
• 13 of the 20 goals conceded by Orient have been in the last 15 minutes of both halves, including 8 between minutes 31-45, no team in the league has conceded more in that period

On loan QPR defender Cole Kpekawa is enjoying life in E10 and was more than happy to extend his loan from his parent club. Kpekawa has played 6 time for the Orient since his move but knows that Orient need to win games if they want to go up. Speaking to leytonorient.com ahead of the trip to Stevenage, “we need to go on a run and start winning games”.

• Only Carlisle (37) and Cambridge (34) have conceded more goals in the top half of the table than Orient (33)
• Jay Simpson has netted 18 league goals this season, the most in the top 4 English Leagues
• Simpson has netted Orient’s last 3 on their travels and averages 1 goal every 110 minutes

Cole understands that his side need to improve defensively quickly, “both goals were soft and we have got to do better than that, we have been working on the pitch today”. A major problem has been Orient’s inability to prevent the opposition scoring, something that Cole highlights himself, “if you want to do well in the league, you have to keep clean sheets, we are not doing that right now. We have to keep clean sheets and cut out the soft goals”.

• Orient have only kept 4 clean sheets in their 24 league matches
• Only kept 1 in their last 19 league matches, without a clean sheet in last 8 league matches
• Kept only 1 clean sheet in 15 away matches this season and kept only 1 in their last 19 away matches in all competitions 

Tomorrow’s clash with Stevenage pits West Ham colleagues Ian Hendon and Teddy Sheringham against once another. Cole acknowledges that it is a great match “to go and get 3 points, we want to get on a run in the new year, a few 3 points and cut out the draws” Cole added “we want to stay around it, that’s the plan, Orient should be higher than League 2″

• Orient have opened the scoring in 7 of their away games, including 5 times in the opening 15 minutes of matches, no team has done that more than Orient
• Orient have taken 27 of their 36 points when they have scored first including 11 of their 14 away points
• The O’s have drew the last 3 games they have scored first
• Orient have not won in the last 10 games they have conceded first away from home and lost 10 of the last 16 conceding first

Stevenage head into tomorrow’s clash on the back of back to back defeats against Crawley and Dagenham & Redbridge over Christmas. Manager Teddy Sheringham’s side had picked up after a tough start to the season and were unbeaten in 6 league matches prior to the 2 defeats. Borough sit in 19th position but acknowledge a few wins will see them comfortably sitting in mid table.

• League Record- P24 W6 D8 L10 F32  A43
• Only York (46) and Dagenham (44) have conceded more in league than Stevenage
• Home Record – P12 W4 D3 L5  F14 A16
• Form in last 8 league matches – W3 D3 L2
• Last 5 at home (most recent first) – LDWDW

Sheringham stated after the 3-1 defeat to Dagenham “I think they have let themselves down”. Speaking to stevenagefc.com “we started the game very well again, had chances and didn’t take them. We looked shaky at the back which cost us goals and put us out of the game”. Sheringham knows that this isn’t a one off from his side in recent weeks, “it has happened before, we’ve had good possession, chances and play but not taking your chances is a problem for us. It puts pressure on you without a doubt”

• Kept only 2 clean sheets in league, both at home but have only 1 in last 10 home matches
• Failed to score in 6 matches, 4 of them at home but scored in their last 3 home matches
• Scored in 6 of their last 7 games in all competitions

Stevenage did pull the score back to 2-1 but once more “crappy defending again let them them in for a third and the killer blow” stated Sheringham. The Stevenage manager joined in the summer after leaving his role as a coach with West Ham but is loving every minute of his time in Hertfordshire. Speaking pre match to stevenagefc.com yesterday “it is a little bit different to what I was expecting but loving every minute. I am really enjoying it and can’t wait to come in every day, it is a fantastic place to work”.

• Stevenage have taken 14 of their 26 points against sides in top half of the table
• Have conceded 30 of their 43 goals in the second half (70%), including 14 in the final 15 minutes of matches, no team has conceded more in that period
• Stevenage have only scored twice in the final 30 minutes of home matches

Sheringham understands that it took time for his side to gel at the start of the season but stated “we have seen improvement in the latter part of the first half of the season, it is still work in progress and as long as we keep improving I’ll be happy”.

• Stevenage would sit 9th on 34 points if games lasted 60 minutes
• 5 of their 6 wins have been by 1 goal
• 3 of their 5 home defeats have been by 2 or more goals

The Stevenage boss knows that nothing can be taken for granted in League 2 football, “we got ourselves in a position that before those 2 games, you would like to think you can get 6 points but it is football and it doesn’t work like that”. Sheringham added “if you are not focused and applying yourself 100% you will fall down as a team, you all need to perform if you are to get a result”.

• 17 of their 24 league matches, both teams have scored
• Only scored 1st in 5 of their home matches, 4 of them have been in the first 15 minutes of games
• Stevenage have taken 17 points from possible 27 when scoring first including 13 from 15 at home
• Record conceded 1st – W1 D5 L8  at home – D1 L5
• Stevenage have only won 1 of their last 17 home league matches when they have conceded first

The Hertfordshire outfit lost 3-0 to Leyton Orient earlier in the season and Sheringham knows that “we had a very good game with them earlier in the season, it was even for 75 minutes and it could have gone either way”. Sheringham faces out friend Ian Hendon once more “we don’t want teams doing the double over us so we’ve got a home game, a fixture with someone that I know about and we have played them already. There should be any surprises”.

• Stevenage have only won 1 of their last 4 opening fixtures in January (3-2 FA Cup win at Donny in 2014)

Team News

Stevenage are set to be without 12 first team players who are all out injured after Jerome Okimo had surgery this week. Dean Wells, Adam Marriott, Jesse Joronen, Chris Whelpdale, Steven Schumacher and David McAllister look all set to be out. While Dean Parrett, Jack Jebb and Connor Ogilive are all give a chance to face Orient tomorrow.

Chairman Phil Wallace commented to stevenagefc.com on the injuries to his side “I have been here 16 years and I don’t remember ever having 12 first team players unavailable. Most are from muscle tears – we have looked carefully at every injury but there is no consistent pattern, other than bad luck”

Leyton Orient are set to be without Dean Cox, Paul McCallum and Sammy Moore who all remain sidelined with injury. Mathieu Baudry will serve the second game of his suspension after his red card against Portsmouth while Jean-Yves M’Voto is a doubt with a groin injury. Lloyd James will now be missing for around 6-8 weeks with an achilles problem picked up in training this week.

• Orient have failed to name unchanged side or the same back 4 in their last 6 league matches

O’s manager Ian Hendon commented on the test his side face tomorrow “they are a big strong side and as always we will be expecting a tough game. We want to get this new year off to a good start but so will Stevenage so it is all about who performs better on the day”

Head to Head – Stevenage 3, Draw 1, Leyton Orient 5

Last Meeting – 18/08/15 – Leyton Orient 3-0 Stevenage

• Orient have won the last two meetings between sides and 4 of the last 5 meetings, keeping 4 clean sheets
• In the 7 league meetings between the sides, there has only been 9 goals scored, in none of the those games have both teams scored
• Orient have won all 3 of their league trips to the Lamex Stadium, with the score 1-0

Prediction – Stevenage 1-2 Leyton Orient