The O’s head coach opted against giving youngster Sam Sargeant an opportunity against Beaconsfield Town
Justin Edinburgh has admitted Leyton Orient goalkeeper Sam Sargeant may feature in the second round of the FA Trophy despite first-choice Dean Brill starting the 4-0 win over Beaconsfield Town on Saturday.
The clash in E10 against the Southern League Premier Division South club seemed a good chance to give 21-year-old Sargeant a first competitive appearance since the 3-0 loss at Torquay United on November 25 2017 in the National League.
However, after making seven changes elsewhere, Edinburgh decided to stick with his number one Brill, who has played every single minute since the O’s head coach took charge over a year ago.
He said: “The second round could possibly be a chance for Sam. There is a chance for everyone and it is just what I feel at the time.
“It is not anything other than the fact we needed to not make too many changes and I think that was one (position) we felt we should stick with.”
Edinburgh continued: “There was that thought (about starting Sargeant), but it is an important position and with so many changes I didn’t want to unbalance the team too much, especially with young Jayden Sweeney in there.
“I thought Jayden was excellent, especially given he turned 17 last week. He put in a quite incredible performance and he is another who will have a big future in front of him.”
The Orient youth-teamer took his opportunity on the left side of an O’s back four, which was much-changed to the defence Edinburgh normally selects in the league.
At the heart of it were Dan Happe and George Elokobi with the latter captaining the team which hosted Beaconsfield.
Orient’s stand-in skipper made the breakthrough in the 17th minute when defensive partner Happe had been denied following a free kick.
It took until the 54th minute for the hosts to double their advantage, but it eventually arrived when Craig Clay found James Brophy and he drilled in at the near post.
Further strikes by Clay and Gorman added gloss to the scoreline as O’s made it into the second round with no scares.
The performance of Sweeney was a real highlight from the day with the first-year scholar producing an accomplished display with his assured first touch in particular standing out.
Edinburgh added: “Jayden has earned the right. He has been training with the first-team group for a while now and I have seen him develop very quickly.
“He only left school in the summer, but he has huge potential and a big future in front of him and he showed that with an assured performance.”
One player who was missing was James Dayton after he underwent surgery last week to repair a tear in his cartilage in his knee.
It looks set to keep him out for around 12 weeks and will force Orient to be active in the transfer market.
Director of football Martin Ling has been looking for options along with chief scout Steve Foster and a discussion with owners Nigel Travis and Kent Teague will take place at some point this week.
“They (Travis and Teague) are in a different country, so myself and Martin Ling have had discussions and we will have a board call this week and see where we can look to improve,” Edinburgh concluded.
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