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Leyton Orient Match Preview

Leyton Orient v Aldershot Town Match Preview – Tuesday 27th November 2018

Following Saturday’s disappointing home defeat to Barrow, The Shots will need to pick themselves up quickly in order to rise to the challenge of taking on league leaders Leyton Orient at Brisbane Road.

Shots Squad:
Shots boss Gary Waddock will again be without his two first choice skippers Karleigh Osborne and Scott Rendell. Rendell’s knee related injuries are likely to keep him out until at least the new year. James Rowe is also out long term, whilst Tuesday may also come around a little too quickly for George Fowler, who missed Saturday’s match due to a knock in training on Friday. Adam McDonnell, who sat out the Barrow defeat due to suspension, will be available to Waddock.

Opposition:
Name: Leyton Orient
Founded: 1881 (as Eagle Cricket Club)
Nickname: The O’s
Manager: Justin Edinburgh
Stadium: Brisbane Road
Final position last season: 13th
Current National League position: 1st

Recent History:
Relegated from the Football League in 2017 for the time in their history, The O’s initially struggled at National League level and parted with manager Steve Davis before the half way mark, replacing him with Justin Edinburgh, who, largely working with the same playing squad, began to turn things around. A strong finish saw them finish 13th and they have kicked on this season, holding a position in the top three throughout.

The Gaffer:
Justin Edinburgh is a former professional footballer that played more than 200 games for Tottenham Hotspur, as well as having spells with Southend United and Portsmouth. He ended his playing career at Billericay, the club at which he also began his fifteen-years as a manager. Following appointments at Fisher Athletic, Grays Athletic and Rushden & Diamonds, Edinburgh then took Newport County back to the Football League via the play-offs in 2013. Having established County’s place in League Two, Edinburgh left for League One Gillingham in February 2015. In his second season with The Gills, he guided them to second place at Christmas, only for them to eventually finish ninth. He was sacked midway through the following season and out of work for just ten days, before being appointed Northampton Town manager, a spell that lasted just seven months. He was sacked on 31st August 2017 and took the manager’s job at Leyton Orient in November 2017, following the termination of Steve Davis’ contract and guided The O’s to the safety of 13th place last season.

The O’s playing Squad:
Following consolidation last season, Edinburgh kept much of the same playing squad for this season. Just 9 players departed, following release or mutual terminations of their contract. Only three players came in, one of whom was youth goalkeeper Arthur Janata. Young midfielder Dale Gordon joined from Stevenage and striker James Alabi signed, after spending most of last season at Dover Athletic. Arguably Edinburgh’s real coup was convincing top scorer Macauley Bonne to stay at Brisbane Road – a decision which has paid dividends for both parties, with Bonne currently the joint top scorer in the National League having hit 16 goals already. The evergreen Jobi McAnuff has been in superb from again this season as has midfielder Josh Koroma.

Referee:
Tuesday’s referee is Christopher Pollard. He has refereed 7 National League matches this season, showing 24 yellow cards and 0 red cards to date. He took charge of Aldershot home win against Bromley this season.

Commentary:
There will be live BBC Surrey Sport commentary of Tuesday evening’s game, with Rob Worrall and a special guest, from 7:35pm. To interact with the commentary team, tweet @RobShot66.