The 28-year-old was delighted to mark his return from injury with a goal at Haringey Borough
Josh Coulson believes he owes it to Leyton Orient and their fans to remain at the Brisbane Road club beyond January, but concedes nothing has been decided yet.
The Cambridge United loanee has not needed long to become a firm favourite with the O’s supporters despite sitting on the sidelines for close to three months with a groin injury.
Coulson returned for Orient’s FA Trophy clash at Haringey Borough on Saturday and scored with his last touch of the game to equalise in the 58th minute before he was replaced by Dan Happe seconds later.
The 28-year-old looked at his assured best during his first start since September 23 and will no doubt be a big player for the east Londoners between now and January 28 – when his six-month loan from the U’s expires.
But what happens after for him and Orient? Coulson said: “The loan move was for me to get fit because I needed to get fit as no one was going to permanently sign an unfit player.
“I’m fit now, so hopefully I can start playing a few more games again and then we’ll see what happens in January.
“I love being at Leyton Orient and I feel I owe the fans and the club because I’ve been out injured for too long, so I want to stay here, but we’ll see what happens.”
Head coach Justin Edinburgh confirmed on Saturday he was also keen to sign Coulson on a permanent deal and everything points towards the U’s defender staying at Brisbane Road.
After opening his account for Orient on Saturday, you imagine the centre back is eager to be among the goals on a more regular basis and also help the club start keeping clean sheets.
With Coulson fit at the start of the season, O’s defence looked more solid and losing both him and George Elokobi at the same time was a bitter pill to swallow.
Fortunately the injury woes for the one-time Cambridge City youngster seem to be behind him now after completing 60 minutes at Coles Park last weekend.
Coulson added: “It has been a long few months, so it was good to be back out there with the boys.
“I wasn’t on for Matt Harrold’s winning goal, but my last touch of the game was a goal, so I can’t complain too much!
“The plan was always for me to play 60 minutes. I probably could have gone on, but Ketan (Patel) the physio said to do an hour. I’ve come through it unscathed, so it was all good.”
As mentioned, Coulson managed to score with his last touch against Haringey and the defender admitted he knew he was about to come off when Jobi McAnuff swung the corner in.
He added: “I did see Happe getting his kit on and I thought I must be going off in a minute, but it was pot luck.
“The ball fell to me at the back post and I’ve put it back across goal and fortunately it has gone in.”
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