Leyton Orient head coach Steve Davis has asked for a reaction from his players as they host Gateshead tomorrow night. The former Crewe boss stated to leytonorient.com “we wait for a reaction, home truths are always hurtful, in the end we want a reaction”.

• Sit 18th on 18 points
• League Record – P16  W5  D3  L8  F21  A27
• Form in last eight league games – D2  L6  F7  A16
• Only Solihull Moors (1) have taken less points in that period

The O’s fell to their sixth defeat in their last eight league matches on Saturday with a 1-0 home loss to Macclesfield Town. Despite what appeared to be a morale boosting win against Dagenham & Redbridge in midweek, Davis’s men succumbed to a Scott Wilson header on the stroke of half time.

• Home League Record – P8  W3  D1  L4  F12  A11
• Won one of their last five home games in all competitions
• Lost their last four home league games
• Won one of their last six home league games – W1  D1  L4
• Only Soilhull Moors (14) have conceded more at home than Orient

Without a league win since 2nd September, Davis’s side have been underachieving this season with the 52 year old feeling that only a handful of players are playing to their ability. Speaking to leytonorient.com “I thought we should have got something from game, we didn’t show fight which they did. There are definitely large portions of those players underperforming”

• Orient sat 2nd on September 2nd, taking 16 points from 8 games
• Since then Orient have taken 2 points from their last 8 games
• If the season began at the start of September – Orient would sit 23rd

Table from 1st September

Davis praised three of his back five in their performances “Happe, Joe and Juddy did okay, I couldn’t really say a lot about anybody else who actually performed to the level they should do. We were carrying seven or eight players today and we can’t win games like that”.

• Kept three clean sheets in National League (five in all competitions)
• Kept two in their last three games (both vs Dagenham in FA Cup)

Defender James Brophy impressed after coming off the bench but was unable to force an equaliser. The on loan Swindon man, highlighted to leytonorient.com what needs to improve, “we need to be better, we need to take more pride in keeping a clean sheet, if we are not clinical with our chances then the least we take away with us is a draw”.

• Not kept a clean sheet in the league since Maidenhead 28/08/17 – nine games
• Only kept two clean sheets in their nine home matches this season

After promising performances against Dagenham & Redbridge, Davis continued with the 3-5-2 system which saw them keep back to back clean sheets. However speaking to East London Advertiser he stated “the system worked really well and it was all good. The player adapted well but against Macclesfield they didn’t and basically they are inconsistent”. He continued “National League players are inconsistent and our lot are no different”.

• Orient have conceded two more goals in seven of their last eight league games
• Only Guiseley (28), Torquay (29) an Solihull Moors (31) have conceded more goals in the league
• Only Solihull Moors (624) have trailed for minutes this season than Orient (601)

Davis was keen to show the players what he thought of their performances and knows that despite stats being in his sides favour; they don’t win games. Orient have only won one of their nine games they have conceded first in this season, an problem which Davis has identified. Speaking to leytonorient.com “whenever we have gone a goal behind, we rarely show desire, fight and determination to come back. Occasionally we have done it by not enough and not enough for a team of mine”.

• Orient record this season when conceding first  – W1  D2  L6
• Only win was 4-1 vs Guiseley, 02/09/17

With a game just around the corner for his side, Davis highlighted that it is “always the beauty with football. There is plenty of life and endeavour in me, I’ll be looking at the performance again and the team. We need people out there who are going to fight, scrap and bite their way to winning games. At times we don’t have enough of that”. BBC London. 

• Have failed to score in five games in all competitions
• Failed to score in two of their last three games
• 12/21 league goals have been scored in the second half – two of their last three league goals
• 66% of their home league goals have been scored in the second half

Davis has called for his side to raise their performances against Gateshead tomorrow, “I am looking for 50 % more from all of them, I think they know they let me down, themselves down and the fans down” East London Advertiser. He added “we need competition and we need people to realise we want to win football matches and get this club back to where it should be”

• Conceded 17/27 of League goals in first half – most in National League
• Conceded five in the opening 15 minutes of matches
• Only Guiseley (10) have conceded more league goals between 31-45 than Orient (8) 

Gateshead arrive in E10 on the back of a 3-2 away defeat to Eastleigh on Saturday. The Tynesiders fell 2-0 behind but battled back to 2-2 with goals from Jordan Preston and Theo Vassell. However, Steve Watson’s men conceded a third in the dying minutes from Ben Strevens inflicting their ninth league defeat of the season. 

• Sit 17th on 18 points
• League Record – P16  W4  D6  L9  F19  A18
• Form in last eight league games – W1  D4  L3  F10  A12
• Have one win in their last seven games all competitions (2-1 vs Buxton, FA Cup, 14/10/17)

After enjoying a promising campaign last season, there has been plenty of change at Gateshead so far this season. Steve Watson is the club’s second manager of the season after Neil Aspin left to manage Port Vale in early October. Watson who was assistant manager at Macclesfield for three years took the job on the 10th October. 

• Last league win – 3-2 vs Chester, 12/09/17
• Took 11 points in first seven games, taken only seven points in last nine games

Following his sides last gasp defeat on Saturday, Watson stated to gatesheadfc.co.uk “we are bitterly disappointed . We have worked all week going back to back four, it does take a bit of time. You get back to 2-2 and you think about taking the point but they looked dead on their feet and on the back foot and we needed the win. But we were caught by a naïve goal”.

• Away Record  – P8  W0  D4  L4  F7  A12
• Are one of four National League teams without a away league win this season
• Only away victory of season was 2-1 vs Buxton in FA Cup
• Have only won one of their last 13 away games – W1  D6  L6
• Last away league win – 0-4 vs Borehamwood, 22/04/17

Watson highlighted that his side found it hard to cope with Eastleigh’s direct style and the conditions on Saturday, “it was always going to be tough against a team who are so direct and physical”. The 43 year old feels that once his side pick up some form, his side will improve “when we have a few wins under our belt we will be a lot calmer on the ball. When you haven’t won in the league for a long time it is natural”.

• Failed to score in five games (three away)
• Only failed to score in one of their last six games
• Scored in five of their last six away games

Defender Theo Vassell thought he snatched a point for his side but admitted that despite battling back his side left Eastleigh with no points. Speaking to gatesheadfc.co.uk “it’s an extremely disappointing result for everyone. There are positives that we fought back to 2-2 so late on but obviously the big, all important negative is the fact that we lost right at then end”.

• 12/18 league goals have been conceded in the second half
• Only Solihull and Torquay (11) have conceded more goals in the last 15 minutes of matches than Gateshead (8)
• Gateshead have dropped seven points in that period – losing three games

Tomorrow’s clash with Orient, will be Watson’s third in charge of Gateshead and he is worried about a trend in his opening two games, “it was too easy for us to be undone by a bit of long ball. The one ball was causing us too many problems and it did against Buxton in the cup. The big long ball caused us problems along with the conditions”.

• Have only led for 13 minutes away from home in the National League
• Five of their six losses been by just one goal
• Conceded two or more in three of their last six away games
• 77% of their league points have come when scoring the first goal

Despite the loss, Watson is keen to take positives from the game and is keen for his side to take collective responsibility “we need to get a clean sheet under out belts, it gives everyone confidence. Defenders seemed to get blamed for goals that go in. It is about collective responsibility, the midfield making it hard for them to get out at the back and pressing them at the back”.

• Kept two clean sheets this season (two away)
• Only kept one in their last 10 games in all competitions (0-0 vs Fylde, 03/10/17)
• Kept one in last six away games

Team News

Orient are hopeful that striker Matt Harrold has overcome a calf injury to be included in the matchday squad. Alex Lawless and Jobi McAnuff remain doubts with groin injuries while on loan James Brophy will be pushing for a start after impressing from the bench on Saturday. Charlie Lee, George Elokobi and Josh Coulson remain absent through injury.

Gateshead are hopeful James Montgomery has overcome injury and has travelled with the squad tomorrow, while Jamal Fyfield remains sidelined.

Prediction – Leyton Orient 2-1 Gateshead