Hendon: Pritchard should be fit for Cobblers trip
Bradley Pritchard has been a key player for Leyton Orient this season (pic: Simon O'Connor) - Credit: Archant
Orient boss discusses fitness of key midfielder and need to focus on Northampton despite Carlisle clash coming up
Leyton Orient head coach Ian Hendon (pic: Simon O'Connor). - Credit: Archant
Leyton Orient head coach Ian Hendon is hoping Bradley Pritchard will be back for this weekend’s clash against Northampton Town.
The midfielder missed Saturday’s draw with Wycombe Wanderers at Brisbane Road due to a groin problem, the first game he has missed this season.
But the Zimbabwean has returned to training and could come straight back into the side against the Cobblers.
Hendon said: “I am sure ‘Pritch’ will be fit for Northampton. It was more precaution then anything else.
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“He pulled up at the end of training last Thursday and said he was a bit sore. We don’t want to put any of our players at risk in the long term.
“Again, a bit like the Dean Cox one before, we have left Bradley out for a game and hopefully he’ll recover and be ready for Northampton.
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“He felt something in training last week, but that could be due to a number of reasons. He covers some distance in games so it is not surprising that he will get little tweaks here and there.
“We haven’t got any long term injuries and nobody on the physio couch for a long time so whatever we did in pre-season it is going okay.”
Whether Pritchard returns or not, the same question asked by most will be what formation the O’s go with at Sixfields on Saturday.
Hendon has favoured the midfield diamond so far, but insists his players are able to line up in a number of different ways.
The Orient boss also revealed he is fully focused on the trip to Northampton, despite facing Carlisle United as well on Tuesday night.
“What formation we go with depends on the game and personnel really,” added Hendon.
“Yes we can play 4-3-3 or 4-4-2 like we did against Wycombe or the diamond in midfield. We can even play three at the back if we want. We can put out any system.
“We just look at the next game. Tuesday comes after that so we’ll go to Northampton and put out the best team we possibly can and we try to win the game.
“Then we’ll assess everybody in the squad and what we’ve got and then we go again for Tuesday.”