Aldershot manager Gary Waddock insist his side should be relishing their trip to table toppers Leyton Orient tomorrow night. The Shots reached the play offs last season but have struggled this season sitting just five points above the relegation zone. However, after defeat on Saturday, the 56 year old admits it is a great game for his side to bounce back in. Speaking to theshots.co.uk “I’m looking forward to it, it’s a challenge the league leaders, there will be a decent crowd and a good atmosphere, if you can’t get yourself up for that, you’re in the wrong game”.

• Sit 16th on 24 points
• One win in last seven games in all competitions – W1  D3  L3  F4  A12
• League Record – P21  W7  D3  L11  F19  A33

The Shots head to Orient on the back of a 2-0 home defeat against Barrow after goals from Tyler Smith and Jack Hindle gave the Bluebirds victory. Waddock bemoaned his sides performance stating to theshots.co.uk “the first half there was no energy, no enthusiasm in the side and we needed to make changes at half time. I think we had possession without real penetration, it might have looked pretty on the eye but it didn’t really go anywhere”.

Aldershot’s Last Six Results

Waddock made a triple substitution at half time to try and find a route back into the game. However his side conceded a second in the final ten minutes which condemned them to a second league defeat in a row.  The former Wycombe man stated to theshots.co.uk “it was nowhere near what we’re looking for, everybody has got to have a long, hard look at themselves, are they doing enough? Are we giving enough? That Goes for everybody?“.

• Have conceded 14/33 goals after the 60th minute (including eight in final 15 minutes)
• 12/23 away goals have been conceded at the end of both halves
• No team has trailed for more minutes (496) away from home than Aldershot

Striker Matt McClure made his return from injury on Saturday and despite his side taking Bradford to extra time and penalties on Tuesday, he refused to use that as an excuse for his sides performance. Speaking to theshots.co.uk “not for me, we have got to come out and take care of our performance which didn’t do today and put our plan onto the pitch. If we don’t do as we’ve asked or what we are told, we are not going to get anything from game”.

• Failed to score in ten of their 21 league games – joint most with Braintree
• Scored in four of their last six games
• Scored just six away goals in 11 away matches this season
• Only score two or more in six of their 21 games – including two of their last nine

Waddock’s Shots finished fifth last season but after a summer of change, they find themselves languishing towards the bottom of the league. Saturday’s defeat was another game where they failed to score and keep a clean sheet, a persistent problem according to Waddock. Speaking to theshots.co.uk “we’ve not kept a clean sheet which is disappointing, we haven’t kept enough this season and not scored enough goals. It’s fact, you win and lose game scoring and keeping clean sheets, we’re not able to do that”.

• Kept just four league clean sheets 
• Only side in National League not to keep a clean sheet away
• No clean sheet in last four games – conceding eight
• Kept just one clean sheet in last eight games
• Without a clean sheet in last 13 away games (0-0vs Solihull Moors, 30/03/2018)

The Shots will face an uphill task on Tuesday facing an Orient side who are the inform side in the division taking 17 points from last 24 available. Despite the task at hand, Waddock stated to theshots.co.uk “it’s a great game to go into, they’ve done very well this year and credit to them, they are a big club but we should be well up for this game. They’ve got a lot of good players in their group with a lot of experience while we have very little, it’s set up really”

• Away league Record – P10  W1  D1  L8  F5  A23
• Worst record in the division – only Havant & Waterlooville (25) have conceded more
• No win in last three – D1  L2
• Only won one of their last 17 away matches all competitions – W1  D5  L11
• Last win 13/10/2018 – Eastleigh 1-2 Aldershot

Aldershot beat the O’s back in January at the Breyer Group Stadium with Waddock hoping his side can replicate that performance. However, the Shots boss acknowledges a lot has changed since then, “sometimes you have good memories of stadiums and clubs you’ve played against. But it is about putting in a performance this year”.

Aldershot’s Next Six Fixtures

Team News

Striker Scott Rendell and defender Karleigh Osbourne remained injured alongside James Rowe. George Fowler is also set to miss out through injury after picking up a knock in training last week. Adam McDonnell is back available after serving his one match suspension against Barrow. Recent signing Reece Grant could be handed a first start after joining from Braintree last week.

Head to Head – Leyton Orient 16, Draw 18, Aldershot 19

• Orient have only lost two of the last 15 meetings
• Both of their defeats have been at home
• Six of the last eight meetings have seen two or more goals

Last Six Meetings Between Sides

Last Time Out –0-2 defeat vs Barrow

Starting 11 vs Barrow

Prediction – Leyton Orient 2-0 Aldershot