O’s League Two rivals Stevenage make trip to Brisbane Road for second time this month for Southern Group G fixture

Andy Hessenthaler believes Leyton Orient’s English Football League Trophy Southern Group G match tonight has come at just the right time.

The O’s tasted defeat for the third time at Brisbane Road this season on Saturday at home to Mansfield Town.

Liam Kelly’s goal was only a mere consolation in the end as the east Londoners suffered a 2-1 loss in League Two.

Stevenage make the trip to E10 this evening for the opening clash of the newly reformed EFL Trophy.

While the competition has received huge criticism from fans, after Saturday’s loss it has come at a ideal time for Hessenthaler.

He said: “It’s a good game in terms of it is coming quick and hopefully we can put this Mansfield defeat to bed.

“It gives us an opportunity to play a few players that haven’t had many minutes and we’ll certainly do that.”

Orient will be aiming to improve in their penalty area and the opposition’s following a poor display on Saturday.

Routine errors allowed the Stags to take the points and a lack of cutting edge in the final third resulted in just one goal for the hosts.

Hessenthaler added: “To have back-to-back wins and then lose on Saturday is disappointing, it is a game we shouldn’t have lost and we know that.

“It says in the paper we lost 2-1 to Mansfield, it shouldn’t be the case, but it is and the players need to realise we need to do better at both ends. The middle part of our play was quite good, but at both ends we weren’t good enough.”

After showing their spending power during the summer, O’s start to the campaign has been underwhelming.

They’ve won just two times in all competitions, at home to Stevenage and on the road at Grimsby Town, and sit 10th in the table.

But there is a long way to go and Hessenthaler is confident, adding: “I’ve been in the game a long time and I’ve had criticism, I’m just doing it how I see it.

“I have a squad to work with. If you get criticised you get criticised, I understand that because people want to see us win football matches.

“But I’ll carry on working with the players to get them better and hopefully we can get on a decent run.”

A victory this evening would help erase the memories of last weekend’s below par performance and result and lift spirits at Brisbane Road.