The experienced winger, who will turn 30 on Wednesday, suffered a knee injury during the 1-0 loss at Boreham Wood

Leyton Orient will be without James Dayton for a lengthy period of time after he had surgery on Monday afternoon.

The winger suffered a knee injury during Saturday’s defeat at Boreham Wood in front of the BT Sport cameras.

Dayton was forced off in the first half and in a similar scenario to last season he will now miss a significant amount of National League matches.

A statement on the official club website read: “The club are disappointed to confirm James Dayton is likely to miss the next few months with a knee injury.

“The winger underwent surgery this afternoon and will work closely with the club’s medical staff in a period of rehabilitation.

“We wish James all the best in his recovery and look forward to seeing him return to action soon.”

Dayton joined Orient in the summer of 2017 and was one of their better players in the difficult first half of the 2017/18 campaign.

He was the O’s leading assist maker and had scored three times, including in the 4-1 win over Sutton United on December 9, which was Justin Edinburgh’s first victory as manager of the E10 club.

Unfortunately for Dayton he suffered a knee injury during the 3-2 defeat to Aldershot Town on January 27 and it saw him miss the rest of the campaign.

Injury woe has struck six weeks earlier for the winger this time, but the hope will be he can return before the season is out.

While Dayton’s influence had waned recently, during the early part of the campaign he was a key member of Edinburgh’s team and netted in the wins over Chesterfield and Barnet in September while he continued to be a threat from set-pieces.

It is understood his injury is a cartilage issue and the blow will force O’s to increase their search for another wide player.

Boss Edinburgh recently confirmed he is on the look out for another winger and this news will only see director of football Martin Ling step up his attempts to add some reinforcements to the squad.