Leyton Orient defender Sean Clohessy insists it’s now or never for his side as they sit 9th in League 2 ahead of the visit of Exeter tomorrow. The O’s are just 2 points outside the play offs places but with a tough run of fixtures to come Clohessy knows that “it is now or never if we put our marker down”

• League Record- P24 W9 D10 L6  F40  A35
• Home Record – P12 W6 D4 L2  F22  A13
• Form in last 8 – W2 D5 L1 F13  A12

With no fixture last weekend, after their game against Newport County was rearranged, it gave Orient the perfect opportunity to get back on the training pitch. Ian Hendon’s men rescued a point away at Stevenage in their last league outing when Jay Simpson became the first player since 1978 to hit 20 goals in a season.

• Simpson has netted 50% of Orient’s league goals this season
• Simpson has scored in 7 of the last 8 matches, netting 9 in total
• In fact, Simpson has netted 9 of Orient’s last 13 league goals

Clohessy spoke to leytonorient.com earlier today “the training has been lively this week and we all have worked hard so hopefully we can take it into tomorrow”. Orient’s defending has been a cause of concern throughout the season with manager Ian Hendon bemoaning his sides inability to defend. Speaking after the draw at Stevenage to leytonorient.com “it is poor defending, we work on it all week, we ask the players to go out and do a job, sadly they have not done it again”

• Orient have only kept 4 clean sheets, 3 of them have been at home
• Kept only 1 in their last 20 league matches (1-0 away at Morecambe)
• Kept only 1 in their last 14 in all competitions (0-0 vs Scunthorpe)
• Both Teams have scored in 19 of their 25 league matches, including 8 of their 12 home matches

The 2-2 result at Stevenage was Orient’s 10th draw this season something which players, fans and manager know needs to change. Fans called for Ian Hendon’s head after the final whistle at Stevenage but the Orient manager stated “I am as frustrated as them, you put a team out on the pitch, if they make errors and mistakes there is nothing I can do about that”.

• Only Carlisle and Cambridge (39) have conceded more goals in the top half than Orient
• 20 of the 35 goals conceded have been in the last 15 minutes of halves

Orient host Exeter City tomorrow, the team which ended their unbeaten start to the season in early September. City beat Orient 4-0 at St James Park, a game which left Clohessy baffled, “we completely bossed the game and lost 4-0, they had 5 shots on targets and 2 of them where penalties, I have never been involved in a game like that” 

• Orient have only failed to score in 2 league  games all season, 1 of them was away to Exeter
• Scored in their last 4 games in all competitions and their last 9 league matches

With Exeter having the glamour tie away at Liverpool next Wednesday night in their FA Cup replay, Ian Hendon is hoping Paul Tisdale’s men have their eye on that prize. Speaking to the East London Advertiser, Hendon stated “you would like to think they will have  eye on facing Liverpool but knowing Paul as well as I do, I know he will have them prepare properly”. Hendon added “they have a tough run of fixtures but are riding a crest of a wave after the draw with Liverpool”.

• Orient have picked up 24 of their 37 points against teams in the bottom half of the table

January sees Orient play 3 of their next 4 league fixtures at Brisbane Road, something which Ian Hendon hopes his side can build on. “We’re in a position now where we’re at home, the pressure is on, I’m aware of that. We have drawn too many game this year but hopefully we turned the corner at Brisbane Road after the win over Portsmouth on Boxing Day”. After the half way mark in the season, Hendon understands that “we know that we need to be putting a run together. You can’t win the game in the first 5 minutes, it is all about the 90 but we want to win the match”.

• 14 of their home goals scored have been in the second half
• 13 of them have been in the last 30 minutes, only Portsmouth have equaled that
• Only Portsmouth (24) and Notts County (26) have scored more goals at home than Orient
• The come from behind win against Portsmouth was only Orient’s 2nd win in 25 league games at home after conceding the first goal and 1st win in 14 both home and away

Clohessy has been a constant in the Orient defence since his arrival in the summer and knows the key to his side getting back on the winning trail is “cutting out the silly mistake. Everybody has made them, we have to take responsibility now”. Clohessy added “Saturday is massive now, every game from now on is. We haven’t put 2 wins together, we win 1 then draw or lose 1 but we now need to kick on and start climbing towards the automatics or at least the play offs”

• Orient have not won back to back games since August
• Orient have only lost 1 of their last 19 home league games after opening the scoring (3-1 loss to Bristol City 2015)
• Record scoring first this season – W8 D4 L2 – at home- W5 D1
• Orient have drew their last 4 games when scoring first in a game
• Record when conceding first – W1 D6 L2 – at home – W1 D3 L2

Exeter arrive in E10 after a 1-1 draw away at Morecambe on Tuesday night with on loan striker Jayden Stockley netting the equaliser. The Grecians have had the meeting with Liverpool clearly on their mind with the Devon club failing to win a game since they found out their third round FA Cup opponents.

• City sit 15th, 8 points off the play offs
• League Record – P25 W8  D7  L10  F32  A38
• Away Record – P12 W4  D2  L6  F13  A20

Manager Paul Tisdale spoke to exetercityfc.co.uk on the draw at Morecambe “it was a very fair performance, we made a lot of changes with the games coming thick and fast but I thought we played particularly well. We went behind in a bitterly disappointed way but I’m pleased with the way the team played”. Tisdale added “We finished the second half strongly. We’ve arrested the run of defeats which was important today”

• Form in last 8 – W2 D2 L4  F9  A13
• Last 7 away matches (most recent first) – DLWWLLD
• Kept 5 clean sheets this season but only 1 away from home
• Have 1 clean sheet in their last 8 games in all competitions
• Only have 1 clean sheet in their last 18 away league matches

City’s trip to Leyton will be the second of three away trips in a week something which Tisdale understands as he rotates his squad, “I have to be shrewd with who I select. I have a deep squad with a lot getting back to full fitness. I explained to them, it will be a squad game for the next couple of weeks” Tisdale did add Jayden Stockley to his squad after he joined on loan from Bournemouth, “he is a forward player who brings something different to the squad, he has a different skill set to what we have”

• Failed to score in 7 games, 4 of them away from home
• Scored in their last 3 games
• 6 of their 8 wins have been by a 1 goal margin
• In 7 of their 12 away games, both teams have scored

With the income generated from the fixture against Liverpool, Tisdale understands that times have changed at St James Park. Speaking to exetercityfc.co.uk earlier today “we are back on the front foot now and are moving forward, the club has managed the financial decline well over the last 3 to 4 years”. Top scorer Tom Nichols and David Wheeler are attracting interest from clubs in higher divisions but Tisdale explains “we don’t have to take offers, we can take the right one if it comes if it doesn’t we are happy to keep the players”

• 14 of their 20 goals conceded away have been in the second half, including 6 in the last 15 of matches

Exeter have only taken 1 point from the last 15 available with Tisdale highlighting that “we have put in some good performances of late but need to put them together with results. I cannot grumble with players at all in the last 6 to 7 weeks other than the fact they haven’t picked up the points”

• Record scoring first – W8 D4 – away from home – W4 D1 
• 90% of their points come when they score first
• City have only lost 1 of their last 31 league games when they have scored first , winning 21 (defeat at Accrington – 03/01/15)
• They are unbeaten in their last 17 away league matches scoring first, taking 41 of a possible 51 points available

The Grecians manager acknowledge the threat his side will face at Brisbane Road tomorrow, “they are in the mix, they are a team that are perfectly capable of being promoted. They’re in that bracket, they play on a good football pitch and have the advantage that 1 or 2 players are a higher level”. Tisdale added “we’ll have to keep our enthusiasm up and keep our energy levels high. I trust the players to be in the right frame of mind for the tomorrow”

• Record conceding first – D2 L10 – away from home – D1 L6
• Only taken 1 point from last 33 when conceded first goal
• Only York (1) have taken less points when conceding first goal
• City have beaten both Plymouth and Portsmouth away 2-1 this season

Team News

Leyton Orient will still be without Mathieu Baudry who will serve the last game of his suspension after his red card on Boxing day. John Marquis was recalled by his parent club Millwall while Paul McCallum and Dean Cox remain sidelined with knee injuries. Sammy Moore is nearing a return to fitness but tomorrow’s fixture could come to early. Jean Yves M’voto missed the trip to Stevenage but came through a Development league meeting so is available. On loan Hull winger Calaum Jahraldo-Martin will be pushing for a start making his debut at Stevenage.

Clohessy recognises that despite Exeter league position they will still be a threat, “they have dropped off of late but have been a really good team this season and will come good again”. He added “Every game is going to be tough and no team is easy to play against. You have to look to be positive”

Exeter will still be without the injured trio of Christy Pym, Ryan Harley and David Wheeler. Jamie McAllister, Tom McCready and Will Hoskins all came through the game at Morecambe unscathed while Christain Riberio was rested and all are available tomorrow.

Head to Head – Leyton Orient 33, Draw 24, Exeter 29

Last Meeting – 05/09/15 – Exeter City 4-0 Leyton Orient

• Orient have only won 1 of the last 4 meetings between the sides
• Orient have won the last 2 games at Brisbane Road, both 3-0
• The O’s are unbeaten in the last 10 matches at Brisbane Road, winning 6
• Exeter’s last win at Brisbane Road came in 1995
• Only 1 of the last 6 meetings has seen Both Team Score

Prediction – Leyton Orient 2-1 Exeter