Orient striker Jay Simpson ended his brief goal drought in his sides 2-2 draw away at Carlisle on Tuesday. The frontman has netted 23 goals for the East London side and is hoping his side can continue their unbeaten run as they host Luton Town tomorrow.

• Sit 7th on 53 points, a point inside the play offs

Orient struggled to get going in the first half at Brunton Park but substitutions at the break helped the O’s pull in front with goals from Simpson and Ollie Palmer. Speaking to leytonorient.com earlier today Simpson stated ‘the first half we didn’t play well, second half the boys that came on had a good impact. In the second period we got it down more and were doing what the manager asked us to do and started causing them problems’.

• League Record – P34  W14  D11  L9  F51  A47
• Last 10 games – W5  D2  L3  F13  A14  – 6th in the form table
• Home Record – P17  W8  D4  L5  F27  A23
• Home form (most recent home games) – WLLWL

Tomorrow will be Orient’s third game of the week and Simpson knows that recovery will be key for his side, ‘we haven’t done as much work on the training pitch as we have. It is a difficult time and we need time to recover”. He added ‘we had a win at the weekend then went up to Carlisle and got a point, if we can get a win on Saturday it will be a great return from the week”.

• Kept 9 clean sheets – 5 of them at home
• Kept 5 in their last 8 games including one in their last home game vs Crawley
• Have conceded 10 goals in their 5 home games in 2016
• 4 of their 8 home wins have been by a 2 goal margin

Goalscorer Ollie Palmer felt his side were unfortunate not to take all three points on Tuesday. After coming on at half time alongside Sammy Moore, Palmer stated to leytonorient.com ‘everyone stepped it up, the boys put a better shift in and I really think we really should have walked away with the win in the end’. 

• Only failed to score in 3 league matches – 2 of them at home
• Scored in 17 of their last 18 league matches
• Only failed to score in 1 of their last 7 home matches
• There has been at least 1 goal in every Orient league match this season
• Both Teams have scored in 22 of 34 matches and 10 of 17 home matches

The draw extended Orient’s unbeaten run and Palmer knows that ‘it is now three or four games on the road we have not lost. We need to keep winning and if not pick up points, sometimes you have to respect the point‘ The summer signing from Mansfield has been fighting it out with Armand Gnanduillet for the second striker role but was happy about his impact at Carlisle ‘I always want to try and make an impact to show the gaffer what I am capable of”.

• Scored 30 of their 51 goals in the second half including 23 in the final 30 minute of matches
• 15 of their 27 home goals been in the final 30 minutes of matches, no team in division has scored more
• Only 2 of their last 13 goals have been scored in the first half

Player manager Kevin Nolan felt his side fully deserved a point and was left disappointed that they couldn’t pick up three at Carlisle. Speaking ahead of the game tomorrow to leytonorient.com ‘I was pleased with the way we responded and dictated the game in the second half. I thought it was more our bad play rather than their good play in the first but the second we got things right more than we got them wrong’.

• 50% of Orient’s games have seen at least 3 or more goals
• Orient have taken 23 points from possible 27 when leading at half time – W7  D2

Nolan took responsibility on his sides first half performance with ‘poor passing, wrong decisions’ but felt ‘we could have hurt them a lot more and earlier’. Nolan made two changes to his side and revealed that ‘we had a few lads with knocks and a few lads who went down ill but it was a case of shuffling the pack’.

• Record scoring first – W13  D4  L3   home – W7  D1  L1
• Have won their last 5 when scoring first
• Record conceding first – W1  D7  L6   home – W1  D3  L4
• Only won 1 of their last 17 games conceding first

Nolan’s side were followed by 179 away fans at Carlisle with Palmer issuing a massive ‘thank you to all of the fans that came tonight and supported us, we all appreciated it’. Nolan also praised the Orient faithful ‘they have been fantastic since I’ve come in, I am delighted the way they have responded to me. I am really positive with the lads I’ve got here and I have had a fantastic response and I am hoping we can keep working hard together and get success’.

• Record against top half – P17  W4  D8  L5         -38%
• Record against bottom half – P17  W10  D3  L4     –  62%

Luton arrive in E10 on the back of three consecutive league wins under recently appointed manager Nathan Jones. The latest of their wins came in a 1-0 victory over Morecambe thanks to ninth league goal of the season from Jack Marriott. The Hatters are in with an outside shot of the playoffs sitting six points from 7th placed Orient.

• Sit 13th on 47 points

Nathan Jones was appointed back in early January after John Still’s departure and the former Brighton first team coach is seeing his side pick up form ahead of the end of season run in. Jones was happy with his sides performance on Tuesday stated to lutontown.co.uk ‘I put a team out to try and win the game, they dominated and controlled the game doing every single thing I asked of them’

• League Record – P34  W13  D8  L13  F49  A48
• Form last 10 games – W5  D2  L3  F11  A12  – 7th in form table
• Away Record – P17  W8  D3  L6  F28  A25
• Last away games (most recent first) – WLWWL

Jones is passionate and prides himself on hard work, ‘my job is 365 days a year, I am a passionate guy and live on the passion, desire and to do well. I was proud of the boys on how they went about business but we should have been out of sight, we had chances and played fantastically well’. 

• Kept 10 clean sheets , 5 away from home
• Kept 1 clean sheet in their last 4 games
• Kept 5 in their last 11 games but only 1 in their last 5 away games
• 59% of their away games has seen 3 or more goals

Along with Orient, it will be Luton’s third game in a week but Jones knows that it comes with playing English football, ‘the rigger of English league football, I want us to have a team and squad that can handle it, they will be tested and we will see how they respond’. Despite the tightness of the league and the Hatters still in sight of the playoffs, Jones was quick to diminish thoughts on them ‘we speak about Orient and nothing more, any talk on the playoffs would be foolish’

• Failed to score in 8 games- 4 away from home
• Have scored in their last 6 games and their last 4 away matches
• Both teams have scored in 19 of their 34 matches and 10 of their 17 away matches
• But both teams have scored in only 1 of their last 5 games

Goalscorer Marriott felt his side fully deserved the three points on Tuesday and is delighted to be playing. The 21 year old joined the Hatters in the summer after spells out on loan but stated to lutontown.co.uk ‘I am just happy to be playing to be honest, it is always nice to be in the team and scoring goals. Hopefully I can maintain my place in the team’.

• 12 of their 13 wins have been by either a 1 or 2 goal margin
• 8 of their 13 defeats have been by 1 goal
• 2 of their 6 away defeats have been by at least 3 goals

Marriott was sent off in a clash with Orient earlier on in the season in a Johnstone Paint Trophy clash but is relishing the trip to London tomorrow afternoon, ‘I know Orient are there and there about’s with the playoffs and we are hoping we can take three points off them tomorrow’.

• 31 of their 49 goals scored have been in the second half
• Have scored 21 in the final 30 minutes of matches including 13 in the last 15 minutes
• Only conceded 7 away goals in the first half but have conceded 18 in the second half
• Would sit 8th if games ended after 75 minutes
• Only picked up 1 point from possible 15 when losing at half time

Kevin Nugent moved to Luton from Orient after Ian Hendon’s departure and Jones is hoping that the former Orient coach has some inside info on tomorrow’s opposition. Speaking to lutontown.co.uk ‘he worked with the players and hopefully he will know enough about Orient and we won’t get any surprises. 

• Have taken 41 of their 47 points (87%) when scoring the first goal in a match –        W13  D2  L4   – away from home  W8  L2
• Record conceding first – W0  D3  L9   away from home  W0  D1  L4
• Luton have not won any of their last 31 games conceding the first goal
• Have only taken 8 points from a possible 93 when conceding first

Jones is hoping his side put in complete performances from now till the end of the season, ‘we have to do it week in and week out against everybody if we are going to be successful, that is challenge. A complete performance in and out of possession, set pieces for and against’. 

• Record against top half – P18  W5  D5  L8               – 43%
• Record against bottom half – P16  W8  D3  L4       –  57%
• Have not beaten a team higher than 8th placed
• Only taken 4 points from possible 27 against the current top 7

Team News

Leyton Orient were without Armand Gnanduillet and Jobi McAnuff for the trip to Carlisle but Kevin Nolan is hoping to have them available tomorrow. Paul McCallum, Dean Cox and Lloyd James are continuing their rehab from long term injuries.

Nolan on Luton, ‘they are a very good team, set out really well. They have had good wins over the last few weeks, they are playing well with lots of confidence. Winning breeds confidence and I am sure they will come here and want to play’.

Luton have no new injury worries ahead of tomorrow’s trip. Nathan Doyle and Josh McQuoid remain the only absentees.

Jones on Orient ‘Orient are a tough side, I have watched them and are a good side at home. It is going to be a difficult game but we’re in decent form at the minute and we are looking forward to the game’.

Head to Head – Leyton Orient 16, Draw  14,  Luton Town 29

Last meeting – 20/10/15 – Luton Town 1-1 Leyton Orient

• Orient have won 2 of the last 4 meetings
• Their last win at home came in 2008 in a 2-1 win
• Orient have only won 2 of the last 18 meetings between the sides
• Orient have lost 6 of their last 8 games at home to Luton
• 8 of the last 10 meetings have seen both teams score

Prediction – Leyton Orient 2-1 Luton Town