Brisbane Road club face former loanee Shaq Coulthirst this weekend and Edwards explains how he was never set for an Orient return
Andy Edwards has challenged his Leyton Orient squad to finish a difficult January with a positive result at Mansfield Town this weekend.
The O’s travel to Field Mill on Saturday hoping to stop a run of three consecutive League Two defeats.
Mansfield, managed by Steve Evans, are 12th, but haven’t lost in the division since the turn of the year.
Edwards said: “We need to start grinding out results and being hard to play against because it hasn’t always been the case recently.
“We need to carry on working hard like we are every day and then make sure we show it on a Saturday when it matters.
“Mansfield is going to be tough, but every game is tough in this division, especially when you are down the bottom.”
Orient will come up against a familiar face this weekend and somebody who was linked with a return to Brisbane Road earlier this month.
Former Tottenham Hotspur youngster Shaq Coulthirst joined Mansfield on loan from League One outfit Peterborough United on January 19.
And the former O’s loanee netted on his Stags debut during last Saturday’s 3-1 victory at Cambridge United.
Posh director of football Barry Fry suggested Edwards was desperate to sign Coulthirst in a recent interview, but the O’s boss explained: “I spoke to Barry about a number of players and it was more him offering us Shaq, than us going for him.
“We were more interested in another person at Peterborough because signing Shaq was never really a goer for us.
“He is obviously an ex-loanee and a good player who has more experience now than when he was previously with us, so he’s a real threat.
“We are going to have to watch him and they have Matt Green, who was on the bench on Saturday, and other options we need to be aware of.”
Edwards believes there are definitely eight teams battling to avoid relegation down to the National League this season.
Morecambe are one of those sides, which is why last weekends postponement, due to a frozen Brisbane Road pitch, was so frustrating for Orient.
Even though Edwards doesn’t envisage the Stags being part of the fight to survive, he’s determined to take points off them this Saturday.
“We were hoping to drag Morecambe back to us, so that was why it was so gutting it was off last weekend,” said Edwards.
“I think there are eight teams who are all fighting to avoid finishing in the bottom two, so we need to start getting results.
“Mansfield don’t really come into the equation, they are a little further ahead, but we need to try and get a positive result this weekend.”
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