McAnuff tells the O’s fans – stick with us like you have so far
Leyton Orient captain Jobi McAnuff controls the ball against Salford City's Nathan Green (pic: Simon O'Connor). - Credit: Archant
The 37-year-old former West Ham United and Crystal Palace midfielder praised the Orient supporters
Leyton Orient captain Jobi McAnuff has thanked the O’s fans for their support so far this season and reassured them after Saturday’s disappointing 3-0 loss to Salford City.
The big National League title clash in London didn’t go how the hosts envisaged, as they conceded twice inside eight minutes.
After that it was always likely to be a tough day at the office, but Justin Edinburgh’s side are still top and experienced head McAnuff says everything will be alright.
He said: “My message to the fans is stay with us and they have been to be fair. They have been great.
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“They applauded us off at the end and I don’t know if I would have done the same, so they have been really good in keeping us going.
“It is important and we need them to spur us on, but we need to spur them on too and we will do it together.
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“Everyone at the club is moving in the right direction – the fans, board, players and coaches – so everyone is on the same page and wants the club to do well.
“We appreciate that and I would just ask the fans to stick with us and bare in mind it is a long, old season.
“There will be more twists and turns and as long as we are on the right side of it come the end of the season we will all be happy.”
A slow start contributed towards Orient’s rare home defeat on Saturday as City took the lead in the sixth minute when Carl Piergianni headed home Danny Whitehead’s corner after Dean Brill failed to gather the cross and Marvin Ekpiteta was outmuscled.
It was 2-0 with eight gone when Josh Coulson’s clearance dropped for Whitehead and he picked out Rory Gaffney, who got between Sam Ling and Ekpiteta impressively.
Orient huffed and puffed during the rest of the game, and created chances, but failed to break down Graham Alexander’s team and conceded a third in the 80th minute.
Tom Walker’s free kick did the damage this time, and again Piergianni was there to nod into the net.
McAnuff, who captained Reading to the Championship title in the 2011/12 campaign, said on O’s start: “It was a bit of concentration.
“I don’t know whether it is down to the amount of games we have had. Sometimes people can have a little momentary lapse and some days you get away with it, some days you don’t and against the better teams you tend not to.
“The start was a concentration thing really and something we haven’t done a lot this season, so I am sure it will not happen too many times.”