Leyton Orient head coach Ross Embleton is “looking forward” to coming up against league rivals Newport County in the FA Cup.
The O’s will welcome The Exiles to the Breyer Group Stadium on Saturday for a first round tie in the prestigious cup competition as they look to bag a spot in the hat for the next round.
Although the boss knows he may have to slightly rotate his squad after undergoing a gruelling fixture list since returning from their Covid-19 self-isolation period.
“I’m really looking forward to going up against Newport, like tonight (Tuesday) they’re a team that should finish up near the top of the league, and I’m looking forward to having a good go,” Embleton said.
“There will be an opportunity to freshen a few people up and give people a chance to play, but it won’t be wholesale changes.”
They head into the tie on the back of a “disappointing” 2-1 defeat to Forest Green Rovers on Tuesday evening.
“It’s disappointing because of the result, when you come here and play against a good team, they’re going to dominate possession of the ball, but ultimately we lose the game because of two set-pieces,” Embleton said.
“We had chances ourselves on the counter attack to get something out of the game, but when you come to a place like this you know you’re going to be in for a tough night, so you don’t want to give opportunities away.”
Embleton was left bemused by the decision that they were not awarded a penalty in the contest.
“It’s outrageous to be honest, I’ve got a real issue personally because I stand up and talk to a fourth official, and people say I do too much.
“The minute I stand up I get told to sit down, four members of staff from Forest Green were around the official, and getting in his ear.
“How on earth he doesn’t give either one of the penalties, Josh Wright was about to get hold of the ball, whether he scores or not he gets brought to the fall and when Conor Wilkinson is about to score his ankles get pulled away.
“It’s a penalty all day long.”
The boss also explained why he brought off Danny Johnson late on for Ruel Sotiriou.
“People will always question that, but Dan has played a hell of a lot of football, and Ruel Sotiriou was lively when he came on.
“He fully deserves to get out on the pitch and I’m concierge that I don’t want to run Danny into the ground, we need to keep him fresh, and ready.”
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