After draws in their first two National League fixtures, O’s will look to earn an opening win on Saturday

Leyton Orient midfielder Alex Lawless conceded Tuesday’s 1-1 draw with Ebbsfleet United at the Breyer Group Stadium felt like two points dropped.

The O’s appeared to be heading for a first win of the new season, but Corey Whitely then struck in stoppage time to level for Fleet.

After leading for much of the contest thanks to James Brophy’s opener, Orient were bitterly disappointed with the result and only have two points after two fixtures.

But it has increased the motivation in the squad ahead of Saturday’s National League game with Barrow in E10.

“I think last season we had our experiences as a team. We have been together now for all of the previous campaign and we have a few new additions, but we know what to expect in games,” said Lawless.

“There are no excuses and none of the games are easy and with us dropping what we feel is two points on Tuesday, it has definitely made us want to get all three on Saturday even more than we would have before.”

Even though O’s couldn’t hold out against Ebbsfleet, they always faced a tricky start to the new campaign.

On the opening day, last Saturday, Orient visited new boys Salford City and despite the Ammies only just entering the division, they have spent big this summer to try and earn a second consecutive promotion.

Meanwhile Tuesday’s opponents Ebbsfleet reached the play-off semi-finals last season and are expected to be in the top-seven again.

Lawless admitted it is difficult to make a judgement on teams so early, but does expect to see Fleet and Salford challenging for promotion come the conclusion of the term in April.

He added: “I would imagine Salford and Ebbsfleet will be up there at the end of the season. It is hard to judge sometimes, especially now because the pitches are better, the weather is nice and everyone has a style coming out of pre-season which can change.

“Them type of things will definitely change during the season, but I would expect them two teams to be up there.”