Leyton Orient need to start picking up points if they are to beat the drop this season and they will be hopeful of taking all three when they host an out-of-form Port Vale side. Here we preview Saturday’s game:

Leyton Orient

Last weekend Leyton Orient suffered defeat against their relegation rivals Crawley Town. As a result Dean Saunders’s side moved up to 19th and they are now four points ahead of the O’s.

After a slow start to the match, Orient had a great chance to open the scoring. Dean Cox flicked the ball into Chris Dagnall’s path and the O’s striker forced Lewis Price to save at his near post.

Fabio Liverani’s side were enjoying a good spell but they failed to capitalise on another opportunity when neither Henderson nor Dagnall could get the ball over the line in a goalmouth scramble. Dean Cox was the next player to test Price, but his shot was tipped over the crossbar.

Crawley had been forced back by the O’s but the hosts were the ones who broke the deadlock. Izale McLeod was brought down in the penalty area by Luke O’Neill and Crawley’s top scorer stroked the ball into the net from the spot.

Orient continued to search for the equaliser throughout the second half but their attacking play lacked quality. Arguably their best opportunity came early in the second half when O’Neill found Ryan Hedges with a cross, but the Swansea winger headed over the crossbar. Brian Jensen replaced Price in the Crawley goal at the break and he was needed to prevent Marvin Bartley’s curling shot from levelling the score.

Crawley retreated further and further into their own half, while Orient threw more men forward but the visitors continued to struggle to really threaten the hosts’ goal.

Late on Jensen had to make saves to deny Mooney and Hedges and the home side held out for three vital points.

While the defeat was a blow and in many ways a missed opportunity for the O’s, results elsewhere were favourable. Orient remain in 22nd place, just three points adrift from safety and they still have a game in hand over some of their relegation rivals.

 

Team News

Leyton Orient will be without both Ryan Hedges and Jobi McAnuff as the duo are away on international duty. Hedges is in the Wales Under-21 squad for their UEFA U21 Championships Qualifying fixture against Bulgaria on the 31st of March. McAnuff has been called up by Jamaica to play in their friendlies against Venezuela on the 27th March and Cuba on the 30th March.

Fabio Liverani made two changes for the trip to Crawley. Dean Cox came into the side ahead of Jobi McAnuff and Cox is likely to keep his place in the starting lineup while McAnuff is away.

The other change saw Bradley Pritchard lose his place to Marvin Bartley. It remains to be seen whether Bartley or Josh Wright keep their places in the starting lineup as Liverani now has more midfield options following the arrival of Jake Taylor on loan from Reading.

However, Taylor could be needed to fill in for Hedges on the right flank. Shaun Batt and Jay Simpson would be alternative candidates for the right wing role.

Lloyd James returned to action in mid-week, playing for an hour for Orient’s development side against Portsmouth. The 27 year-old is clearly making progress in his recovery from the broken leg he suffered in September but he may need more minutes before returning to the matchday squad.

Romain Vincelot (medial knee ligament) and Adam Legzdins (shoulder) remain on the injury list. Mathieu Baudry was fit enough to return to the bench last weekend but he was an unused substitute.

Another game without a goal lastSaturday could mean Fabio Liverani opts to refresh his strikeforce. Darius Henderson was ineffective last week and his substitution was greeted with cheers from some fans. Liverani has said that Henderson isn’t fully fit yet, therefore he could be a likely candidate to be replaced by either Mooney or Simpson. Though Dagnall is our most in-form striker he too has missed chances recently and so his place in the starting lineup seems far from being guaranteed.

Liverani also has more defensive options available to him too now that Baudry and Omozusi are fit enough to be considered.

 

Port Vale

Summer Transfers

Winter Transfers

 

This Season

League One: 15th  FA Cup: 1st Round  League Cup: 2nd round

When the O’s played Port Vale in October, it was still early days for Robert Page in the dugout at Vale Park. He was still in caretaker charge, but he had led the Valiants out of the drop zone and up into mid-table and following the comfortable win over Orient, Page was named as the new boss.

Port Vale have remained in mid-table, reaching a high of 8th place and they haven’t dropped lower than 16th place since Orient played them. They lost three games from five in January and a draw and a loss at the start of February made it four games without a win for the Vale. However, they recorded three straight wins that also saw consecutive clean sheets and that streak led to Page’s nomination as League One Manager of the Month for February.

March has been a less successful month so far with four defeats and one win from five games.

Last Saturday Port Vale suffered a narrow defeat against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane. The Blades were awarded a penalty just before the half-hour mark as Michael O’Connor was judged to have fouled Jamie Murphy. Jose Baxter stepped up and beat Chris Neal from the spot. The Vale were still in the game as the match approached the latter stages but they were dealt a blow when Michael Brown received a second yellow card for a foul on Ryan Flynn in stoppage time

 

Last lineup:

Neal

Yates, Robertson, Veseli, McGivern

Moore, Brown, O’Connor, Marshall

Dodds

Williamson

(4-4-1-1)

Subs: 

Johnson, Duffy, Birchall, Pope (Williamson 45′), O’Sullivan, Daniel (Moore 45′) , Campion (Dodds 68′).

 

Port Vale have now suffered three defeats in a row, but their recent form on the road has been more promising. Before the Sheffield United loss the Vale had won three consecutive away games.

 

Team News

Michael Brown will serve a one-match ban following his dismissal against Sheffield United.

Port Vale completed a trio of loan signings before Thursday’s deadline and they will all be hoping to make their debuts against the O’s. Central midfielder Francisco Junior arrived on loan from Everton and he is a candidate to replace Michael Brown.

Robert Page also added Sheffield United centre-back Neill Collins and Bournemouth’s Mohamed Coulibaly to his squad.

Winger Byron Moore is a doubt for the trip to E10 therefore there could be an opportunity for Coulibaly to come straight into the team.

Page’s side also look set to be boosted by the return of captain Carl Dickinson.

 

Top Scorers:

Tom Pope

The 29 year-old striker has scored 11 goals in 29 appearances so far this season, making him Port Vale’s top goalscorer overall (though Mark Marshall matches Pope in terms of league goals).

Five of those eleven goals came in his first four games of the season which included a brace in the 6-2 League Cup victory in August. Pope then went nine games without a goal, but he finally ended that drought with a brace in consecutive games in October.

Since his double against Yeovil, Pope has scored just two goals. He secured a 1-0 win over Walsall in February and he found the net in the 3-2 victory over Coventry at the beginning of March. The striker hasn’t scored in his last three outings and he was used as a substitute last weekend.

 

 

When the O’s visited Vale Park in October they suffered their first away defeat of the campaign. Darius Henderson was sent-off on the half-hour as he was judged to have elbowed Richard Duffy. Adam Yates broke the deadlock early in the second half  and that was soon followed by a second Port Vale goal courtesy of Ben Williamson. A comfortable win for the Valiants was then completed when a Michael O’Connor free-kick deflected off of Nathan Clarke and into the Orient net.

At Brisbane Road in September last season, Orient managed to snatch a late win. Louis Dodds put the visitors ahead mid-way through the first half, but David Mooney restored parity just three minutes later. The Irishman then grabbed his and Orient’s second goal on the brink of half-time to give the O’s the lead at the interval. Ten minutes in to the second period, Jennison Myrie-Williams equalised for Port Vale. It appeared as if the match would end in a draw, but in the 88th minute Kevin Lisbie grabbed the third, making it 3-2 to Orient.

Port Vale’s last away victory against the O’s was almost 21 years ago. Mark Cooper and Martin Thomas scored for the O’s but a hat-trick from Martin Foyle meant the Valiants won 3-2.

 

 

 

Match Officials

Referee: Darren Handley

Assistants: Nicholas Cooper and Christopher O’Donnell

Fourth Official: Ian Fissenden

 

Follow us on twitter @TotalOrient for match updates. There are planned closures on the Central Line this weekend. You can find more information here.