Leyton Orient will be looking to build upon the point that they rescued at the weekend and get back to winning ways on the road. However, Luton have been in good form recently and they will want to bounce back from the defeat they suffered on Saturday. Here we preview Tuesday night’s game:

Luton Town

Last Season

League Two: 8th  FA Cup: 3rd round  League Cup: 1st Round  Top scorer: Mark Cullen 13

Last term marked Luton’s first season back in the Football League after a five year absence. The 2013/14 Conference champions came close to securing a play-off place but they narrowly missed out, finishing three points behind seventh-placed Plymouth Argyle.

 

Summer Transfers

This Season

League Two: 12th  FA Cup: N/A  League Cup: 2nd round  Top Scorer: Cameron McGeehan 7

Luton Town made a slow start to the new campaign. Their only victory in the first month of the season came in the League Cup against Bristol City. They managed draws in their first two league games, however they then suffered three consecutive defeats which left them just above the relegation zone at the end of August.

However, their fortunes changed in September, starting with a victory over the O’s in the JPT. The Hatters won four out of their five league games that month which lifted them up into mid-table.

Luton’s improved league form continued into October, as a win at Hartlepool and a draw against York meant they travelled to the Broadfield Stadium unbeaten in their last five in the league.

That run came to an end at the weekend as the Hatters lost at Crawley despite being a goal up. Cameron McGeehan opened the scoring for the Hatters on the half-hour. However, Crawley came back to take all three points thanks to goals from Rhys Murphy and Matt Harrold.

Last Line-up:

Tyler

Wilkinson   Cuthbert  Long  Potts

Lee  McGeehan  Doyle  Smith

Mackail-Smith  Marriott

(4-4-2)

Substitutes:

Justham, O’Brien, Hall, Lawless, Ruddock, McCourt (Lee 66′),  McQuoid (Marriott 71′)

Luton Town will provide stiff opposition as they haven’t lost in their last three games at Kenilworth Road.

Team News

Luton suffered a blow on Monday after it was announced that club captain Stephen McNulty would be leaving to join Tranmere on loan with a view to a permanent move in order to be closer to his family.

Following McNulty’s departure Scott Cuthbert has been named as captain for the time being.

Paul Benson is set to miss the match against the O’s as he is yet to fully recover from his neck injury. However, Scott Griffiths and Paddy McCourt could return after missing Saturday’s game.

Hatters boss John Still may well make changes to his side following their second-half collapse at the weekend.

 

Ex O’s

Scott Cuthbert joined the O’s from Swindon Town in June 2011. In his first season with the club he was voted Leyton Orient Player of the Year as well as winning Total Orient Player of the Year. He made 160 appearances during four seasons with Orient, scoring seven goals. He left at the end of his contract last summer to join Luton.

Luke Guttridge had a loan spell with Orient in November 2006 and the move was made permanent in January 2007 when the midfielder left Southend and signed for the O’s until the end of the season. During that season he made 17 appearances for the club scoring one goal and he made a good enough impression to be offered a new contract at Brisbane Road. However, Guttridge rejected the offer, instead opting to join Colchester. He signed for Luton in July 2013.

John Still progressed through the youth ranks with Orient, but he made just one appearance for the club and that came during the 1967/68 season. He suffered an injury in that match and was later released.

Kevin Dearden joined the O’s in 2007, initially on a part time basis as goalkeeping coach but he later took on the role of chief scout also. He left the club in December 2014 and he joined Luton later that month.

 

Leyton Orient

On Saturday, Leyton Orient recovered from a poor first half in which they went two goals behind to salvage a point against Oxford United.

Kemar Roofe put the U’s ahead after fifteen minutes and ex-O John Lundstram then doubled the visitors’ lead as his shot deflected into the net. The O’s had struggled to get going and as a result they failed to really threaten the Oxford goal.

Ian Hendon made two substitutions at the break, replacing Dean Cox and Blair Turgott with Jack Payne and Ollie Palmer and those two players changed the game for the O’s. Orient reduced the deficit with 25 minutes remaining when Payne picked out Palmer with a fine pass and the striker squared the ball to Jay Simpson, who found the net for the tenth time this term.

Orient were then handed a numerical advantage as Jordan Graham received a second yellow card. However, Alex Cisak had to pull off two saves to keep the O’s in touching distance. That proved to be crucial as Scott Kashket came off the bench to grab a late equaliser with his first senior goal for the O’s.

That point saw the O’s move up to 5th place in League Two and they will now be looking to close the gap between themselves and the three teams in the automatic promotion places.

However, they will need to improve on the road as they haven’t won in their last five away games. Their last victory away from home was the 2-3 win over Newport County back in August.

Team News

Mathieu Baudry returned to the heart of the Orient defence on Saturday after missing the trip to Crawley due to the head injury that he suffered against Notts County.

Ian Hendon will also have Alan Dunne available to him again after the former Millwall man completed his suspension by missing the match against Oxford. Dunne had received a straight red card a week earlier against Crawley Town.

Paul McCallum had surgery on his knee on Monday and therefore he will be on the sidelines for some time yet.

Saturday’s draw will have given Hendon something to think about in terms of tactics and team selection.

Given his side’s improvement after the interval, he is likely to revert to the diamond system after trying a flat 4-4-2 during the first 45 minutes.

The Orient boss is likely to restore Jack Payne to the starting line-up and Ollie Palmer is also pushing for a start as both players were influential in the second-half comeback against the U’s. Scott Kashket’s late equaliser will also have given Hendon something to consider.

 

 

Ex Hatters

Connor Essam played 9 games for the Hatters during a loan spell in 2012/13.

 

The two sides have already met this season as last month Orient made the trip to Kenilworth Road for a JPT tie. Danny Green broke the deadlock just before the half-hour mark as he fired the ball into the top corner of Charlie Grainger’s net. However, the O’s drew level on the hour as they were awarded a penalty after Scott Cuthbert fouled Scott Kashket in the box. Lloyd James stepped up and converted his penalty to equalise. Jack Marriot saw red for a gesture towards the away fans with just under ten minutes remaining, but ten-man Luton went on to score a late winner. Ryan Hall’s effort on goal took a fortuitous deflection off of Stephen O’Donnell which diverted the ball past Grainger.

Orient’s last away win against Luton Town came in February 2008 as Jabo Ibehre scored the only goal of the game to seal all three points for the O’s.

The Hatters’ last home win over the O’s in the league was back in March 2002. Luton recorded a comfortable 3-0 victory thanks to goals from Chris Coyne, Dean Crowe and Adrian Forbes.

This fixture has not seen a draw in the last ten meetings. Luton have the better recent record with four wins in the last six against the O’s.

 

Match Officials

Referee: Tim Robinson

Assistants: Lee Venamore and Christopher Husband

Fourth Official: Geoffrey Russell

 

Tonight’s game is ALL TICKET.

 

Kenilworth Road

Capacity: 10,226

Post Code: LU4 8AW

 

 

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How will the O’s fare against Luton? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.