Brisbane Road boss discusses captain’s armband, friendly coming up and Alan Dunne

East London Advertiser: Alan Dunne making his debut for Leyton Orient at Woking (Gavin Ellis/TGSPHOTO).Alan Dunne making his debut for Leyton Orient at Woking (Gavin Ellis/TGSPHOTO). (Image: 28/07/2015 Gavin Ellis/TGSPHOTO c/o 27 Plaiters Way, Braintree, Essex, CM7 3LR, contact@tgsphoto.co.uk)

Leyton Orient head coach Ian Hendon has an idea who will be his captain for the new season, but hasn’t decided just yet.

Nathan Clarke, the O’s skipper last year, left the club earlier this week to join Bradford City after expressing a desire to move back up north to be closer to his family.

Sean Clohessy has captained the Brisbane Road outfit in their last two friendly matches against Colchester United and Woking so he appears a candidate.

Recent recruit Alan Dunne was skipper at his previous club Millwall and the wealth of experience he has makes him a contender.

While the likes of Mathieu Baudry, Lloyd James and Dean Cox have a lengthy affiliation with Orient which could see them in the mix.

Hendon said: “I have an idea who will be captain for this season, but I am just going to let it go.

“There is no rush. I will see what the players are like, not just on the pitch but around the training ground and how they act and interact with each other.

“Your captain has to be a leader on and off the pitch so there are a few candidates.”

Orient’s head coach did reveal what he plans to do for the two friendly matches the club play this weekend.

They travel to National League South side Bishop’s Stortford today (Saturday) for a 3pm kick-off at the ProKit Stadium before facing rivals Southend United tomorrow (Sunday) for a 1pm start at Roots Hall.

Hendon is aiming to give all of his squad 90 minutes across the two games they are involved in before their big clash with Barnet on August 8 at Brisbane Road.

He added: “I definitely want everyone to try and get 90 minutes over the weekend, a couple were going to get that at Woking but a few had cramp in places.

“I took them off as a precaution. Luckily we have had no injuries throughout pre-season and I want that to continue.

“Harry Lee is the only one who has had a problem with his knee, it is not major and that is literally the one injury concern.”

Orient supporters will get another opportunity to see new signing Dunne in action again for the club this weekend – most likely against Southend.

The 32-year-old look good during his 45 minute cameo again Woking on Tuesday and Hendon was delighted with his display.

“Alan’s not played much football over pre-season to be fair so he’s playing a little bit of catch up,” said Hendon.

“He’s been training at Millwall doing some stuff over the summer but he’s not played many minutes. I think you’ve seen what he’s about in the first half at Woking.

“He’s very experienced, knows what to do when he’s got the ball, organises and I was very pleased with what I saw in the first 45 minutes. That was the plan - to give him 45 minutes and then come off - so I was delighted with his first performance.”