Brisbane Road boss full of praise for midfielder after late free kick keeps the O’s unbeaten

Leyton Orient head coach Ian Hendon hailed the quality of Dean Cox following the 1-1 draw with Northampton Town, but admitted his side should have won the game at Sixfields Stadium.

The visitors had the majority of the possession against the Cobblers and should have taken the chances that came their way.

Jay Simpson failed to make the most of the numerous opportunities he had before Dominic Calvert-Lewin headed home in the second minute of six added on.

It seemed like the O’s were heading for a second League Two defeat of the campaign until Cox scored a stunning free kick from 30-yards-out to earn a point.

Orient have dropped down to third in the division now after not winning since August 29 when they beat Bristol Rovers 3-0.

Hendon said: “Dean loves the pressure. That is why ‘Coxy’ is in the team. He has got that quality and keeps calm under pressure.

“It was a great finish and he did the same at Dagenham from a dead ball situation and that is why he takes them.

“I’m not concerned that we have gone five games without a win. If we keep performing like we have been in the games we have drawn like at Cambridge United and today. If we keep performing like that we will win more games than we lose and we shouldn’t have drawn that one today.”

A negative to come from Sixfields was the injury sustained by Paul McCallum late on against the Cobblers.

The young forward appeared in a lot of pain after falling to the ground whilst battling with Shaun Brisley inside the penalty area.

Hendon added: “We are assessing Paul. You can never tell with these things, but he is in the changing room being assessed.

“We probably won’t know anything until Monday. If we can get him scanned beforehand we will.”

Orient would have been distraught had they lost the game because of Calvert-Lewin’s header, but fortunately for them Cox rescued a point.

Hendon admitted he wasn’t happy with the way the O’s conceded the opener to Northampton, adding: “It was a disappointing goal to concede because we work very hard on defending set plays so it was very disappointing to concede the way we did.

“It is a header that Alex has got absolutely no chance of saving. One of the lads has held his hands up and said he lost his man. We’ll have a look on the video and work from there.”