Leyton Orient first team Coach Danny Webb has urged his side to continue their winning run when they visit Barnet on Saturday. The O’s made it eight consecutive victories on Tuesday moving two points clear at the top. With just eight games remaining Webb highlights it is important they don’t let up. Speaking to the O’s Show “we carried on the momentum on Tuesday with the atmosphere, we will take well over 1000 to Barnet, we go again. That’s what successful teams do, keep things going. It’s the most important bit now”.

• Sit 1st on 76 points – two point lead over Solihull 
• Only lost one of their last 12 games – W10  D1  L1
• League Record – P38  W22  D10  L6  F63  A28

Orient’s 2-0 victory over AFC Fylde on Tuesday came courtesy of first half goals from Marvin Ekpiteta and a MacAuley Bonne penalty. Head Coach Justin Edinburgh was delighted with his side performance stating to leytonorient.com “we come off the back of a tough enduring game on Saturday where we were down to ten men for long periods. It didn’t show in our start to the game. Our first half performance allowed us to control the second half and restrict Fylde to very few chances”.

Orient’s Last Six Results

Midfielder Craig Clay has been an ever present this season and is building a partnership alongside Jobi McAnuff in central midfield. The O’s grabbed two goals in the opening 30 minutes which helped to settle any nerve. Clay praised his sides ruthlessness in front of goal stating to leytonorient.com “it was professional and efficient. I think you could tell from the first five minutes when Koroma was getting at them. Macca was getting at them, they were their for the taking”.

• Opened the scoring in first half of five of the last seven games
• Failed to score in eight league games (three away)
• Scored in last eight games – netting 15 goals
• Scored in 11 of their last 12 games

Orient’s challenge for promotion has been built on a solid foundation at the back along with their free flowing football in attack. Clay praised the squad’s desire and doing the hard work in recent week. Speaking to leytonorient.com ” when we get it down and play, it’s a pleasure to watch. I’m sure it is for the fans watching. We showed Saturday we can dig deep and defend, our defenders heading everything away. Everyone’s putting the work in”.

• Best defensive record in league
• Kept 16 league clean sheets (five away)
• Kept two in last three games
• Kept three in last five games
• No clean sheet in last seven away games
• Not kept back to back league clean sheets since 1st January

The O’s sit in pole position at the top of the National League, two points clear and games in hand on their promotion rivals. However with just four points separating the top four, Edinburgh is taking nothing for granted with the end of season run in. Speaking to nationalleague.com “it’s certainly not over. There’s a lot of football to be played, a lot of twists and turns with a lot of good clubs challenging for that top spot. There’s too many games to be played for it to be over, we’ve got a very difficult run in aswell”. 

Orient are set to sell out their away allocation at the Hive tomorrow and Webb feels that despite Barnet sitting in mid table they will be looking to put the cat amongst the pidgeon in the O’s camp. Speaking to the O’s Show “Barnet seem in a similar position to what we were last year. They had a bit of a blip and now they are finding some form. Darren has gone in and done ever so well by all accounts. I don’t think they have much to play for now but in front of a big crowd, they will clearly want to cause an upset”.

• Away League Record – P19  W10  D6  L3  F31  A17
• Won last five, 1st time since September 2013 – F11  A6
• Unbeaten in last four league games – W3  D1
• One defeat in last nine away – W7  D1  L1

With their FA Trophy run, Orient have faced a heavy set of fixtures in March with Saturday being their eighth of the month but that has coincided with their run of form. Despite playing three games a week, Clay feels the heavy work load actually helps his side. Speaking to leytonorient.com “I think we’re better when we’ve got a busy schedule, you tick games off and get momentum  which is hard to stop us. It’s like the start of the season. We’re looking forward to it, we’re winning games, it’s eight wins on the bounce, everyone is confident. We’re looking forward to the busy schedule”.

• Scored in seven of their last eight league games
• Scored in last six away games
• Scored 37/63 league goals in second half (16/31 away)
• Scored 27 goals after the 60th minute

Team News

Jamie Turley will be assessed after being taken off on Tuesday with a hamstring injury. Jordan Maguire-Drew, Myles Judd and Sam Ling all remain out. Jay Simpson returns the squad from injury while Matt Harrold serves the second game of his three match ban.

Edinburgh on squad to guardian series “I think we possibly will rotate the squad, but I’ll always go off my own players and I’ve got to trust them. I trust them to tell me if they’re fine. If I feel they should play then they will”.

Head to Head – Leyton Orient 10, Draw 8, Barnet 7

The Last Nine Meetings

• Orient have only won one of the last four meetings between sides – W1 D1 L2
• Orient have failed to score in two visits to the Hive
• Both teams have scored in only two of the last seven meetings

Last Time Out – 26/03/2019 – Leyton Orient 2-0 AFC Fylde

Starting 11 vs Fylde

Prediction – Barnet 0-1 Leyton Orient