Brisbane Road head coach reveals that defender is set to leave the club

Leyton Orient head coach Ian Hendon has revealed defender Shane Lowry is likely to leave the club on a free transfer after having a relegation clause in his contract.

The Brisbane Road boss, speaking after watching his side lose 2-1 to Braintree Town, revealed the former Millwall man is set to depart.

Lowry won’t be going with the rest of the squad to Malaga on Tuesday, but Hendon did reveal they will have a chat if a move for the defender hasn’t materialised by the time the O’s return from Spain.

He said: “Shane has got a clause in his contract that meant if we got relegated he could leave on a free transfer and that was done before I came. I wasn’t aware of that initially to be honest, but his agent has informed me he will be leaving 100 per cent.

“There is no point Shane being out on the training ground or playing games in case he gets injured because then we have an injured player for a year.

“I would like to keep him, he won’t be going to Spain with us and if his move gets sorted out it does, if it doesn’t then we will have a chat when we get back but we can’t afford for him to be injured because he wants to find another club.”

On the defeat, Hendon insisted the result isn’t the priority, but that improving the match sharpness of the players is key.

The 43-year-old did acknowledge, however, that he would like his team to make winning a habit and that will come if they win pre-season games.

He added: “Of course the result doesn’t matter and I have said it before, it doesn’t matter about results at this stage of the season.

“Although I did say to the boys winning is a good habit to get and as soon as you can get on that trail the better, but it was a first 45 minutes for some of them.

“We had a lot of trialists and they are still getting to know each other like the new signings.”