Leyton Orient head coach Carl Fletcher wants to pick up his first win as O’s boss when they visit Morecambe on Saturday. The former Plymouth man is yet to pick up maximum points with the O’s but is hoping it will come against rock bottom Morecambe. Speaking to the O’s Show “we are looking forward to it, we want to go up there perform well and get a good result”.

•  Sit 16th on 20 points
• No win in last two – D1  L1
• Won three of their last six league games – 11 points out of 18
• League Record – P16  W5  D5  L6  F24  A27

The O’s head north after a 1-1 home draw with Carlisle last weekend. Josh Wright put Orient ahead from the spot before Jack Iredale equalised early in the second half to share the points. Goalkeeper Dean Brill described the game as “a game of two halves”. Speaking to leytonorient.com “first half I thought we were very good and implemented a lot of the stuff we have been working on. Second half maybe we fell off it. We didn’t start great, got punished and never really got going again”.

Orient’s Last Six Results

Orient were in full control in the first half against Carlisle without creating too many opportunities. After a hectic opening week at the helm, Fletcher saw some promising signs from his sides performance. Speaking to leytonorient.com “in the first half I thought we were really good, on the front foot with good attacking play. We could have potentially been a few goals up but that’s football. It was pleasing to see some little things we’ve been working on in a short space of time”.

• Kept four league clean sheets  – two away
• No clean sheet in last two
• Two in last five league games
• Only Carlisle (28) and Morecambe (29) have conceded more goals in League 2
• Conceded 19/27 league goals in first half – most in league (11/14 away)

With no midweek, it gave Fletcher a full week on the training pitch with his players to introduce his philosophy. The 39 year old is hoping his side are taking on board all of the information but understands that it may be small steps rather than an instant change. Speaking to O’s Show “we have a lot of good players that want to work hard and do well for the team. The staff and players want to get better on a daily basis to see where we can do. We are working hard to improve behind the scene and hopefully the lads can take it on board. There is a lot we want to go in and it’s important we don’t get information overload”.

• Failed to score in three league games – two away
• Scored in three of last four games – netting eight goals
• Scored in 12 of their last 13 league games
• Not failed to score in back to back away games since August

Despite Saturday’s opponents having no manager, Fletcher is keen for his side concentrate on what they have been working on during the week but knows it won’t be easy. Speaking to O’s Show “they have been in the division a long time and just lost their manager. It is a tough one for us, any trip up north is going to be difficult. We know we need to make sure we do the basics right. It is important the focus is on what we have been working. There are certain principles we want in our game when we play and hopefully we can put them in effect”.

• Away League Record – P8  W3  D2  L3  F12  A14
• Won two of their last four 
• Not lost back to back away games since August
• Only lost two of their last seven away league games – W3  D2  L2

Team News

Connor Wikinson is available after serving his three match suspension so should be included. Sam Ling is doubtful with a groin injury while Lee Angol and Jobi McAnuff are still out injured.

Head to Head –  Leyton Orient 3, Draw 0, Morecambe 1

The Four Meetings Between Sides

• Orient have won both trips to the Globe Arena
• Three of the four meetings have ended 1-0
• Only one of Orient’s four goals has been scored by a striker

Last Time Out – 26/10/2019 – Leyton Orient 1-1 Carlisle

Starting 11 vs Carlisle

Prediction – Morecambe 0-2 Leyton Orient