Leyton Orient head coach Richie Wellens praised his side for a professional performance in their 2-0 win over Sutton United.
The Brisbane Road encounter was one of only two League Two matches to go ahead, with Paul Smyth breaking the deadlock just past the hour mark.
And an Alastair Smith own goal secured victory to leave O’s seven points clear at the top of the table heading into Christmas.
“Professional. I thought at times, first 20-25 minutes, no sharpness in our play. No cleverness. You just want to be professional, you want to win the game,” Wellens told the club website.
“It’s not excuses because every club up and down the country, when your training facilities are not available and you have to give them a couple of days extra over the weekend off, they had their Christmas do, so they’ve come back in and done great.
“We was a little bit off it against a difficult physical team but we had moments from about 25 minutes to about 60 minutes, we had moments in the game but no real structure.
“But all in all, every player can be proud of their performance. seven-plus for everybody. I thought our subs had a real good impact on the game. So it’s pleasing.
Smyth fired into the top corner from 20 yards for his ninth goal of the season and Omar Beckles flicked on a long throw from Tom James, before Smith deflected the ball into his own net.
“We expect that from Smudge, we see it every single day and I think that’s nine now for this season,” added Wellens.
“He was little bit in and out of it, when he touches the ball he’s real quality but out of possession he was a bit off it today.
“He’s a wonderful talent and once people show him inside, especially when teams try and press you like they try and press you, they leave gaps and if we get two or three passes right then we look like we can score and I think that was the case today.”
A crowd of 8,069 braved the cold to see O’s record their 16th win in 21 league outings and Wellens had praise for the club staff who had worked hard to ensure the fixture could be played.
“Usually when you get games on like this, it can, not be a farce but it can have an impact on the game because there’s still that crispness on top,” he said.
“But the groundsman and the heated dome had done its job. I don’t think in any area or at any stage of the game did we think ‘that’s because of the pitch’.
“It played really well, zippy, sharp, and it was two teams who made a decent League Two game.”
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