MATCH PREVIEW: LEYTON ORIENT

The Wood are on their travels again this Saturday, January 6 (3pm) when they face Leyton Orient, in the National League. Here’s our preview……..

Match Details

Away supporters are usually housed in one side (towards the South End) of the Main Stand, around 1,000 fans can be accommodated in this area.

Team News

Dean Wells has been ruled out for the rest of the season, following an injury to his knee.

Having signed for the Wood today, Alex Davey will be available for selection against Orient.

Form Guide

A last-minute equaliser against Sutton United, away from home, will be seen as a solid point for Garrard’s side.

It was Angelo Balanta who leapt highest to score against The U’s, and the midfielder had also netted in the 2-0 win over Torquay United, just two days prior.

The Wood are currently sat in eight place in the National League, level on points with seventh placed Tranmere Rovers.

The Wood sit just three points off third place, with a game in hand.

Managed by 48-year-old Justin Edinburgh, Orient currently lie 19^th in the table on 31-points.

Edinburgh’s side have lost just once in their last five matches, a 1-0 defeat at home to Bromley.

They drew last time out, battling to a goalless draw away to Dagenham & Redbridge.

From the Dugout – Luke Garrard  

“They have obviously got a new manager in Justin Edinburgh and he has got them certainly playing in a different manner to what we faced early on in the season.

“They are very organised; very well drilled and I have watched three, or four games on them and they have got quality throughout their whole ranks.

“They have got great quality and they are a big club at this level, so yeah I can imagine that they are going to be tough task come Saturday.

“He is a good manager, who has obviously delivered at the level above and you can see that in his teams, they listen and they respond to what he is asking of them.

“I think that they had chinks in their armour at the early stages of the season; I felt that we nullified their threats and caused them problems at home.

“I think that it is about what we do, I just think that we are in a good place, you look at the result against Sutton, if you take that out, that is one loss in about 18 fixtures.

“That is a massive achievement, a huge achievement for this football club and for the dressing room.

“But now we go into a period where we face Leyton Orient on the Saturday and Dagenham & Redbridge on the Tuesday, and we need to go and maximise the performance to get the best result.”