Leyton Orient boss looks to avenge cup loss at Crewe

Wellens fielded a much-changed side for the first-round tie last month and saw Charlie Kelman have an effort ruled out.

Bass Sambou’s goal in the fifth minute of injury time then sent 10-man O’s out, following Craig Clay’s late dismissal, and a 2-0 league defeat at Wimbledon followed a few days later.

But O’s have won three games in a row since and sit five points clear of Stevenage at the top of the table ahead of their 1pm kick-off on Saturday. 

“It was a different Orient XI but we still should’ve won the game,” said Wellens of the Crewe clash when speaking after last weekend’s 3-0 victory over Bradford City.

“It was a good performance and I said at the time, when you’re in a position that we are and you’re fighting for three points every single week, this is just human nature, when you have a cup game, you can come off it five per cent.

“And we came off it five per cent but still should’ve won the game.”

Wellens hopes to have Rob Hunt back fit after a week of training, while Adam Thompson continues his recovery from injury.

And he said the club is considering its options ahead of the January transfer window, as they look to maintain their title bid.

“I’ve been in this situation as a player and manager,” said Wellens, who renewed his own contract until the end of the 2024-25 season recently.

“I’ve put the three or four options that we can do, one is invest heavily with players that we can take forward next year.

“There’s probably two or three other options, but if you say to me now that January 31 has come and we’ve renewed all our contracts and kept exactly the same squad, then I’ll be happy.”

Kelman, Tom James and Ruel Sotiriou were all on target as O’s returned from a two-week break from action to beat Mark Hughes’ Bantams at a busy Brisbane Road.

But Wellens felt it was almost ‘too comfortable’ at times and hopes the supporters can raise the bar to help the club realise its potential moving forwards.

“I think the supporters got a little bit comfortable and that shows how far we’ve come,” he added.

“We’re 3-0 up, the roof should’ve been coming off this place. But it’s credit to the players at how comfortable the game was and the supporters felt comfortable.

“If they can ramp that atmosphere up a bit, there’s going to be games that are a bit tighter and the supporters will get us over the line.

“It’s a really good club to be involved in, the environment that all of us work in, the players and staff, is really good, so we want players to stay.

“I think this club has a lot of potential. It still has a lot of improvement in it.”