The E10 outfit lost for the first time last weekend, but they remain in second position after 14 games

Leyton Orient goalkeeper Dean Brill is pleased with the start the club have made to this season’s National League, but has insisted they must now kick on even more.

The O’s lost for the first time this term on Saturday after going down 1-0 at home to Sutton United in front of a crowd of 5,627.

It saw Orient’s 13-match unbeaten start to the season, which is a new club record, come to an end and the next challenge for this squad is to get back to winning ways as soon as they can.

Brill said: “We knew what we were capable of and what we wanted to do, but I don’t think you ever envisage a 13-game unbeaten run.

“I don’t think you ever see that coming, so it is a good start, but a start is all it is.”

The 32-year-old has been a regular in the O’s team since he made his debut at the end of 2017 in Justin Edinburgh’s first match in charge.

He is also well versed to this league having played in the division before at hometown club Luton Town in the 2012/13 season.

Brill admitted Orient knew what to expect from Sutton last weekend, but after they had failed to break them down in the first half, the U’s took the lead three minutes into the second period.

Craig Clay lost the ball in midfield and with right-back Myles Judd caught slightly out of position, Jonah Ayunga cut inside and drilled in from 22-yards to make it 1-0.

O’s number one Brill did admit he was disappointing with the goal, and so were his defence, and pondered how things might have been had Joe Widdowson’s first-half header not been cleared off the line by Aswad Thomas.

“Sutton are experienced and if you look through their team you can see they are an experienced side and they have knowhow,” Brill said.

“But if Joe’s header goes in during the first half then you do wonder what their game plan would have been then. It is one of them.

“It was going to happen, we were not going to go the whole season unbeaten, but to have started how we have started is a big plus.”

Although Orient didn’t create enough on Saturday, they could have salvaged a point had Dale Gorman’s curling strike from outside the area gone in and not smashed the crossbar, while James Alabi fired wide from a promising position.

It is certainly not all doom and gloom in E10 like it was during the first half of last season, but back-to-back defeats would halt O’s momentum.

Orient need to produce the goods at 16th-placed Maidenhead United this weekend and Brill is sure they will.

He added: “It is another challenge for us and that is to bounce back after a defeat. We did it last season.

“I think we have only lost nine games since the gaffer has come in now, so we don’t like losing and there will be a response at Maidenhead.”