League Two boss pleased with Yvan Erichot but knows he needs to bring another defender in before August 6

Leyton Orient manager Andy Hessenthaler was impressed with Yvan Erichot during Saturday’s goalless draw with Charlton Athletic.

Russell Slade and Kevin Nugent returned to Brisbane Road for a pre-season friendly in hot temperatures.

Chances were at a premium throughout, but it was the O’s who looked more likely to break the deadlock during the contest.

The League Two outfit took a number of positives from the game, not least the display of recent French recruit Erichot.

Hessenthaler admitted, however, they are still short in that area, he said: “Yvan has done really well, but my concern is if we get an injury to Tom Parkesy or Yvan.

“With Nicky Hunt out now, we have no other centre halves in the building. We have expressed our concerns to the owner and hopefully we can deal with that over the next couple of weeks and bring somebody in before the start of the season.

“I was really pleased with Yvan and he is starting to listen to the instructions the best way we can and he was very good on Saturday.”

Hunt injured his ankle in training on Friday and is a doubt for the league opener at Cheltenham Town on August 6.

Reece Brown has been training with Orient for over a week and featured at Dover Athletic and again on Saturday.

The O’s boss admitted they will assess the centre back again at Dagenham & Redbridge tomorrow night.

“Reece is down on his fitness because he hasn’t done a lot, but we would certainly consider him and we’ll have him for another week,” said Hessenthaler.

“We will maybe try to get him involved at Dagenham. It was a shame he couldn’t play at Woking because he picked up a bit of a niggle.

“We are definitely looking to bring a defender in, whether that is Reece or not we’ll have to wait and see.”

Orient’s friendly at the weekend was the first time they had returned to Brisbane Road since April 30.

After struggling at Dover the previous Saturday, Hessenthaler saw his team deliver a much more encouraging display against the Addicks.

He believes their fitness levels are starting to improve and feels they should take confidence from their performance against the League One outfit.

“We were better on Saturday compared to Dover, for some reason we wasn’t at it and I don’t know why. We looked a bit tired in that match, but it is no excuse and we know we need to do better,” said Hessenthaler.

“I think the lads are finding their legs a bit more in terms of the work we’re doing fitness wise and looking stronger.

“We’ll take confidence from Saturday, first half Jay Simpson has had a chance and Jordan Bowery has got in so generally lots of positives and a lot of confidence from that.”

Orient next make the trip to Victoria Road tomorrow to face local rivals Daggers and could come up against ex-youngster Sam Ling who is on trial with the National League club.