Defender Coulson felt Orient didn’t assert themselves in a windy contest at Cheltenham

Lawrence Vigouroux of Leyton Orient during Stevenage vs Leyton Orient, Sky Bet EFL League 2 Football at the Lamex Stadium on 1st February 2020 (Image: ©TGS Photo tgsphoto.co.uk +44 1376 553468)

The O's suffered a 2-1 defeat late on thanks to an 88th minute effort from Reuben Reid despite Conor Wilkinson giving them an early lead at Whaddon Road.

And the experienced defender believed Storm Dennis made conditions tough but insists they didn't assert themselves on the game enough to come home with the three points.

"It was very tough out there, you didn't know where the ball was going to go half the time, but to be honest I don't think we really asserted ourselves enough, especially first-half, we didn't use the wind well enough," the 31-year-old said.

"Second-half it was about trying to weather the storm, it was really hard, we didn't have that ball to get out and we got punished in the end for that.

"They're up there for a reason and they're good at what they do, I think the wind played a massive part in the game, but it's the same for both teams so we can't use that as an excuse."

The former Cambridge United centre-back felt they needed to create more chances especially in the first-half when the wind was on their side.

"First-half we needed to put more balls in the box, I don't think we created enough chances today (Saturday) and then in the second-half we weathered the storm really well up until really late which is disappointed."

Wilkinson netted for the O's in the 17th minute but not even a minute later the Robins were level thanks to Alfie May after the visitors appeared to switch off.

"It was very naïve from us, I think once we score we have to dig in and say the next five minutes is just going to be horrible, and we have to get the ball up the pitch.

"We didn't do that and they literally scored from kick-off, a couple passes, and we looked a little bit switched off.

"We've got to learn from that."

Orient now have a week on the training ground after a number of mid-week fixtures in recent weeks and will get to work ahead of their clash with Oldham Athletic.

Defender Coulson who has been in and out of the line-up this season says they'll be determined to bounce back to winning ways.

"We want to bounce back as we don't like losing."