Leyton Orient head coach Justin Edinburgh is hoping his side keep hold of their good momentum and continue it at home to local rivals Dagenham & Redbridge on Boxing Day. Orient picked up their third win on the bounce on Saturday with Edinburgh stating to leytonorient.com “we are giving ourselves a fantastic foundation, we always this momentum, you’ve got to keep hold of it”

• Sit 20th on 27 points
• League Record – P25  W7  D6  L12  F33  A41
• Second worse defensive record, only Solihull (42) have conceded more in National League

The O’s head into the Boxing day clash after a 2-0 away win at Maidstone on Saturday; making it three wins in a row for the first time since August 2015. Bondz N’Gala put them ahead in the first half before top scorer MacAuley Bonne grabbed his 12th of the season to move Orient six points clear of the relegation zone.

• Form in last six – W3  D1  L2  F10  A8
• Back to back league wins for third time this season and first time since September

Edinburgh was delighted with his sides performance describing it as “the best overall performance we’ve had since I’ve been here”. Speaking to leytonorient.com he stated “that was a real top away performance from start to finish. We sent the fans away happy, it was an early Christmas present”

• Home League Record – P12  W4  D3  L5  F19  A17
• Unbeaten in last three home games – W1  D2
• Won one of last five home games – Sutton 4-1, 09/12/17
• Won one of their last eight home league games
• Scored in their last three home games

Saturday’s win coincided with Orient’s first clean sheet in 12 games and their first in the league since 28th August. It was Dean Brill’s fourth appearance for Orient and Edinburgh was thrilled that his experience keeper came away with a clean sheet. Speaking to leytonorient.com “as a defender, I pride myself on these, Brill deserved it, he commanded his box and the two centre halves, Josh Coulson alongside Bondz were immense as everyone was. I am really pleased and it capped off a top performance”.

• Kept four clean sheets in league (just one at home)
• Kept two clean sheets in 13 home games this season
• Without a clean sheet in last five home games
• Kept just one in last 11 home games (Dagenham 1-0, FA Cup, 17/10/17)
• Kept back to back clean sheets over Dagenham

After three wins in a row, Orient are being to stabilize under Edinburgh’s reign and the former Northampton is quick to point out that his side will not become complacent. Speaking to BBC London “we need to be mindful of the expectation of this football club. It is small steps and we will certainly not be getting ahead of ourselves. We will enjoy tonight and the run we are on but we want to maintain it. My job is to keep them focused”.

• Not won four in a row since August 2015
• Failed to score in seven games (just three at home)
• Have scored in their last three games and eight of their last ten
• Last failed to score 1-0 vs Solihull, 02/12/17

With their next two games at Brisbane Road, Edinburgh wants to maximum their home advantage but knows the quality that Dagenham will bring tomorrow. Speaking to leytonorient.com “John is a wisely old fox, he’s been there, seen it and done it on many occasions. We know what we have got to be at, they are another team with good quality but my team are in good form and we want to continue that at home”

• 26/41 league goals conceded have been in the first half – most in league
• Have conceded ten between minutes 1-15 and 31-45
• Scored 20/33 goals in second half – including 11 in final 15 minutes
• No team in National League trailed for more minutes than Orient (983)

Dagenham & Redbridge manager John Still wants his side to return to the form which saw them win four in a row earlier this month. Speaking to daggers.co.uk following his sides 2-1 home to defeat to Eastleigh on Saturday, “the manner you play in is always a concern, today we never played to the level we have played for most of the season. Today we fell short”.

• Sit 6th on 40 points
• League Record – P24  W11  D7  L6  F39  A27
• Second Highest scorers behind Bromley (41)

Saturday’s defeat was their second in a row following a 3-2 defat in the FA Cup to Hereford United. Michael Cheek had given them the lead on Saturday but Chris Zebroski levelled before half time then Paul McCallum struck to sent all three points to the South Coast.

• Back to back defeats for third time this season
• Form in last six – W4  L2  F12  A7
• First league defeat in five against Eastleigh

Defender Sam Ling grabbed an assist and the man of the match award but know his side have to better all round ahead of their trip to Orient tomorrow. Speaking to daggers.co.uk “individually it was pleasing at the end of the day but not as pleasing as with three points. I am happy to get an assist and anything that will help the team win but we need to be better all round, individually and as a team”.

• Away League Record – P12  W3  D6  L3  F15  A13
• Won two of their last three away games – keeping clean sheets in both games
• Two wins ended a run of ten away without a win
• Last away defeat – 3-2 vs Hereford, 17/12/17
• Last away win – 1-0 at Barrow, 9/12/17

Ling progressed through Orient’s academy before joining Dagenham in 2016 and admits his side want to get revenge on his old side. Orient knocked them out of the FA Cup in October and Ling is hoping his side return home with all three points, “I can’t wait to play against Orient, I always look forward to this fixture. They got one over on us in the FA Cup but we want to go there and get three points”.

• Kept six clean sheets in league (three away)
• Kept three in their last five games
• Without a clean sheet in last two, conceding at least two in each game
• Kept back to back away clean sheets in league (4-0 at Chester, 1-0 at Barrow)

With three games in just six days, Ling knows the important of his side bouncing back from defeat. Speaking to daggers.co.uk “you can pick up a lot of points over a short period of time”. Dagenham may sit 6th but are just five points off top spot with Ling acknowledging a couple of win and “we will be right up in the league where we want to be. We need to recover well and get over this loss”.

• 21/39 their league goals have been scored in first half
• 16 have come in first 30 minutes – most in division
• Have opened the scoring in 11/24 games with goal in first 30 minutes
• In 15/24 games a goal has been scored in the opening 30 minutes

The Daggers struggled to create an equaliser on Saturday with Still hoping his side have more quality when they face neighbours Orient tomorrow. Speaking to daggers.co.uk “the last 20 minutes we were getting the ball up there but you need that right cross or pass but we never provided that quality. We were not good enough”. He added “in the end we were attacking without quality in our play, they had everybody back but we have to find the right quality”.

• Failed to score in five league games (four away)
• Scored in last six games
• Scored in eight of last nine games
• Last failed to score – 2-0 vs Tranmere, 11/11/17

Despite heading into the derby on the back of two defeats, Still highlights that form is not that important in these games. Speaking to daggers.co.uk “it’s a local derby, the two games will be good games. Form goes out of the window, they are different games; they will be in better spirits than they have been and we have got to bounce back”.

• 66% of their away goals have been scored in the second half
• 11/18 second half goals have been scored between 76-90 minutes – the joint most in league
• Gained three points in final 15 minutes

Team News

Leyton Orient will be without defender Bondz N’Gala who is unable to face his parent club. Young center back Dan Happe is set to deputise in his absence.

Dagenham will be hoping attacker Corey Whitely has overcome the sickness bug which kept him out of their defeat on Saturday. Sam Ling looks set to start against his former club at Brisbane Road.

Head to Head – Leyton Orient 7,  Draw  3,  Dagenham 5

• Orient have won four of the last six meetings
• Orient have scored in eight of the last nine meetings
• Orient are unbeaten in 90 minutes in the last nine meetings – W5 D4
• Dagenham last beat Orient in 2010, 2-0 at Victoria Road

• Did you know… Orient’s last two Boxing Day results have been 3-2
• Did you know… Dagenham lost last season 3-2 on Boxing Day
• Did you know…. the last league game at Brisbane Road finished 3-2 to Orient

3-2 to Orient is 28-1 with most bookmakers

Prediction – Leyton Orient 3-2 Dagenham & Redbridge