Brisbane Road outfit face two strong sides over the next couple of days

Leyton Orient’s vice-captain Sean Clohessy has called on his team-mates to raise their game ahead of facing two tough challenges over the next week.

Ian Hendon’s side welcome Oxford United to Brisbane Road on Saturday, before making the trip to Luton Town again next Tuesday having already played at Kenilworth Road in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy this season, losing 2-1.

The U’s have won their past four matches and not tasted defeat since September 12, while the Hatters are on a similar strong run of form.

Luton’s only loss in their past six matches in all competitions was to Gillingham in the JPT.

Orient will certainly be tested and know a lot more about their own squad strengths by the time they have played at Kenilworth Road next week, but Clohessy is backing them to show what they are made of.

He said: “We want to make Brisbane Road a fortress. We have only lost once there and that was to Carlisle United.

“Oxford are going to be a tough team, they’re well drilled and up there with us, and Luton will be the same. That will be difficult, but if we are going to get out of this league we are going to need to beat sides like that.

“We are going to need to come to places like Crawley and win too, but it is a long season so let’s see what happens.”

Clohessy believes Orient can beat teams like Oxford and Luton playing the expansive football they have produced, although it hasn’t always earned the O’s the right result.

Draws at Cambridge United and Northampton Town are firmly in the memory, as well as the defeat to Carlisle.

O’s played wonderful football for the first 25 minutes on Saturday, but couldn’t get the second goal against Crawley and were punished for it as they suffered a 3-2 loss.

Clohessy believes their sloppy errors need to be cut out, adding: “We are an expansive team and we like to play football. We have full backs that like to join in the attacks so we do leave spaces, but we create so many chances and we want to play that way.

“Maybe we need to look at things differently, but I don’t think the goals we conceded at Crawley were to do with the way we are playing.”

He continued: “There were a couple of counter-attacks, but the other games when we have conceded goals it hasn’t been because we are out of position, it has been little, sloppy things that have happened and not anything to do with us being over expansive.

“At Crawley the boy has put the ball through and they’ve got the penalty, the other one is a cross and the other a throw, so it is things that we could nullify.

“That is what we need to start doing, making sure other teams don’t have the chances to get in those positions.”

Orient haven’t been good enough in either penalty area over the past month and that needs to change quickly if they are to remain among the front-runners this season.