Leyton Orient boss Wellens would prefer League Two game to FA Cup tie
Leyton Orient head coach Richie Wellens admitted he would rather have another League Two fixture to focus on than an FA Cup tie this weekend.
O’s head to Crewe for a first-round match, having moved three points clear at the top of the table with a 1-0 win over Salford City last weekend.
They will come up against a side that is currently down in 16th place, having gone six league matches without a win.
And Wellens expects to make changes to his side, with his priorities clearly lying elsewhere this season.
“I’d like a game next Saturday in the league just to keep that momentum going,” he told the club website.
“I’ve been in this position before, I know what it takes to get success at this level and get a club promoted.
“The first 16 games have been unbelievable and it’s got us into a position, but the last 15 will be very important as well.
“If you keep picking the same team every week, players get tired, players get injured, and then you can start fumbling on formations and systems and you’ve not got a fully-fit squad.
“Lets manage players’ minutes and make sure 10 outfield that we start every week are fresh and ready to play.”
Wellens saw Paul Smyth net another stunning goal at Brisbane Road to secure the points for his side and revealed it had been a hard decision to choose his matchday squad.
And he revealed how hard it can be to chop and change when the team is enjoying such success.
“My only decision was who do I leave off the bench?” he added.
“It’s so difficult. As long as everybody stays focused, performs like that, and everybody trains right, then everybody will get opportunities.
“But that’s really difficult when you try to explain to players, like Jayden [Sweeney] today who missed out, that the opportunities will come.
“We’ve got an FA Cup game next week, we will make a few changes because players deserve to play.
“But when you’re going on the runs we’ve gone on, it’s really difficult to take anybody out of the starting XI.”
Club captain Darren Pratley came off early in the second half against Salford as a precautionary measure, with Wellens praising the experienced 37-year-old for his impact on the squad.
“My plan with Prats was to play him Saturday-Saturday, never play him a Tuesday and probably limit his games to 25, maybe 30 games,” he said.
“If you put me with any single player in the trenches, I’ll go in with Pratley because he’s an outstanding professional, that’s why he is playing at his age, still one of the fittest lads we’ve got, and his attitude and application is infectious and spreads to the rest of the group.”
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