Newly appointed player-manager Kevin Nolan will take charge of his first game when the O’s make the trip to Adams Park on Saturday. The man in the opposite dugout Gareth Ainsworth also began his managerial career with Wycombe Wanderers as a player-manager and he will be hoping to prevent Nolan from making a winning start with the O’s. Here we preview Saturday’s game:

Wycombe Wanderers

 Summer Transfers

 Winter Transfers

 

This Season

League Two: 7th  FA Cup: 3rd round (replay)  League Cup: 1st round  Top Scorer: Gary Thompson 7

Wycombe return to League Two action following their spirited FA Cup exit at the hands of Aston Villa in Tuesday night’s Third Round replay.

The Chairboys could have gone in at half-time ahead of their Premier League opponents. Sam Wood was the first to test Brad Guzan and the Villa ‘keeper almost gifted the away side a goal when he failed to claim Joe Jacobson’s cross but Garry Thompson headed the ball over.

Remi Garde’s side were booed off at the break as the match remained goalless but Aston Villa mustered enough quality to avoid an upset.  They finally broke the deadlock fifteen minutes from time as Ciaran Clark headed home from Ashley Westwood’s cross. Villa then guaranteed their place in the fourth round thanks to an injury time goal from Idrissa Gueye.

Last Line-up:

Ingram

McCarthy  Stewart  Pierre  Jacobson

Harriman  O’Nien  Bloomfield  Wood

Thompson  Hayes

(4-4-2)

Substitutes:

Lynch, Jombati, Bean, Udumaga, McGinn (Bloomfield 53′), Ugwu (Thompson 80′), Amadi-Holloway (Hayes 73′)

Wycombe lost just one league game in December and they strung together a four-game streak without defeat that included three consecutive victories over the festive period.

That good run of form saw the Chairboys move from ninth place all the way up to fifth, however Gareth Ainsworth’s men suffered defeat in their last two league games. Their first game of 2016 saw a defeat to Morecambe and last weekend they lost by a single goal at Hartlepool.

The Chairboys are currently in 7th place in League Two with 40 points from 25 games.

Wycombe have drawn three of their last six home league games.

 

Team News

Gareth Ainsworth is expected to have close to a full squad to choose from when the O’s visit Adams Park.

Matt Bloomfield is the only injury concern as he picked up a knock, thought to be a hamstring strain at Villa Park in midweek.

However, Ainsworth was able to welcome back Paul Hayes on Tuesday night after the striker recovered from his Achilles injury.

The Chairboys’ boss will be without goalkeeper Matt Ingram after he completed his move to QPR on Friday. Alex Lynch is set to take his place in goal.

 

Leyton Orient

Last Saturday Ian Hendon’s reign came to an end following a 1-3 defeat against Exeter City.

Ollie Palmer gave the O’s the lead after less than a minute as he turned in Jobi McAnuff’s delivery. However, that good start was undone as Orient collapsed inside the first 45 minutes.

Jayden Stockley equalised for the Grecians after a quarter-of-an-hour and Tom Nichols then put the visitors ahead mid-way through the half. Stockley then struck again on the half-hour to extend Exeter’s advantage.

Jay Simpson had two opportunities from the spot to get the O’s back into the game but his first attempt struck the post and his second effort was saved by Exeter stopper Bobby Olejnik.

The defeat saw the O’s slip down to 11th place in League Two, however they are only three points behind Wycombe who currently occupy the last play-off place.

However, the O’s have won just once in their last eight league games and they haven’t recorded a victory away from home since their win at Morecambe back in October.

Team News

Kevin Nolan is eligible to feature against Wycombe, however the Orient boss is likely to remain in the dugout on Saturday. The 33 year-old initially suggested he could be named as a substitute, but he has not played competitively since the end of August and he has indicated his intention to build up his match sharpness before taking to the pitch.

However, the new O’s manager will have more options available to him than his predecessor Ian Hendon had in recent weeks.

Mathieu Baudry is back in contention after completing his three-match suspension that followed his dismissal against Portsmouth.

The Orient captain played in a reserve game against Southend in the week alongside the fit-again Sammy Moore. Freddy Moncur, Scott Kashket and Alan Dunne also featured and they will be hoping for first team opportunities under the new manager.

Two more new additions have been made to the Orient squad this week too. Defensive midfielder Nigel Atangana joined from Portsmouth and he could well make his Orient debut at Adams Park. Armand Gnanduillet was signed from Chesterfield as well, however the striker’s availability on Saturday will depend on Football League approval.

Cole Kpekawa’s loan from QPR was also extended, keeping him at the club until the 1st March.

One player left the club this week. Defender Jean-Yves M’voto’s Orient contract expired following last Saturday’s game.

Lloyd James (Achilles), Dean Cox and  Paul McCallum (cruiciate knee ligament) remain on the sidelines as they recover from injury.

 

 

Wycombe had to settle for a point when they made the trip to East London earlier in the season as Jay Simpson salvaged something from the game for the O’s. The visitors took the lead just before the interval, but Orient equliased shortly after the hour as Turgott set up Simpson.

The two sides last met at Adams Park in March 2012 and the O’s endured a terrible first 45 minutes. Stuart Beavon opened the scoring for the hosts after just seven minutes and Paul Hayes doubled the Chairboys’ lead twenty minutes later. Wycombe then grabbed two more goals inside ten minutes through Matt Bloomfield and Ben Strevens. Russell Slade’s side pulled a goal back just one minute into the second half as Matthew Spring found the net. Marc Laird then scored Orient’s second in the 74th minute, but the damage had been done in the first half and the O’s suffered a 4-2 defeat.

Orient’s last away win against Wycombe was in October 2009. The first half remained goalless. Scott Mcgliesh eventually broke the deadlock in the 77th minute to seal all three points for the O’s.

 

Match Officials

Referee: Darren Bond

Assistants: David Avent and Stuart Butler

Fourth Official: Darren Blunden

 

Adams Park

Capacity: 10,300

Post Code: HP12 4HJ

 

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