The O’s play seven League Two games in February and now is the time for the squad at Brisbane Road to stand up and be counted

East London Advertiser: Leyton Orient players Paul McCallum (left), Sammy Moore (inside, left), Sam Dalby (inside, right) and Nicky Hunt show their disappointment after Mansfield Town score (pic: Simon O'Connor).Leyton Orient players Paul McCallum (left), Sammy Moore (inside, left), Sam Dalby (inside, right) and Nicky Hunt show their disappointment after Mansfield Town score (pic: Simon O'Connor). (Image: Simon O'Connor Photography)

They say when it rains, it pours and that has certainly been the case for Leyton Orient in January with the month proving to be an absolute nightmare in more ways than one.

The O’s have seen two excellent coaches depart in Andy Edwards and Richard Thomas and dropped into the relegation places of League Two after failing to win since beating Crawley Town on December 26.

The January transfer window shut at 11pm on Tuesday and Orient’s new boss Danny Webb was only allowed to bring in two players after seeing Ollie Palmer depart.

It means the 33-year-old, who replaced Edwards on Sunday, will have to work with a small squad, full of youngsters, to try and get O’s out of the dire situation they find themselves in.

While January has been an awful month for everybody connected to the Brisbane Road club, February is the time to see unity and for the squad to come out all guns blazing.

The O’s play seven times over the next four weeks and you can’t help but feel this is a crucial period which will go a long way to deciding if they are still a Football League club at the end of the season.

Morecambe, Notts County and Cheltenham Town – three teams directly involved in the relegation battle – visit Brisbane Road during February.

Orient also travel to Yeovil Town and Stevenage, both mid-table sides, and those five upcoming fixtures are when we need this O’s team to stand up and be counted.

As soon as Mansfield Town took the lead on Saturday, you struggled to see how the east Londoners would get back into the game and we have seen that too many times this season.

But while the Stags are a team in good form and in the top half of the table, the majority of sides coming up are not.

Carlisle United visit Brisbane Road on Saturday and Orient travel to Plymouth Argyle on Valentine’s Day (February 14), but the rest of the games this month are winnable.

Webb will take charge of O’s for the first time this weekend and will be braced for a difficult encounter against the Cumbrians, but he will have his players believing they can stop their terrible form.

The former Orient academy boss is an enthusiastic character, who has always wanted to be a manager, and will relish this chance despite the enormity of the task at hand.

Webb lacks experience, though he has worked with all of the younger members of the O’s squad and been involved in the first-team set-up since the summer.

The ex-Hull City and Cambridge United forward is the son of former Orient and Chelsea defender David Webb, who went on to achieve great success as manager of Southend United in the 1990s.

Orient’s new boss has plenty of people he can use to help him, but most importantly he needs all of his players to now step up to the mark and start delivering.

Too many heads dropped once the first goal went in at Field Mill and over the next month Orient can’t afford to do that. They have to stand up in the face of adversity.

Relegation has not been confirmed yet, so O’s players and the fans need to keep on believing for the sake of Webb, who will be positive he can guide the club to safety.

Carlisle is the first of seven huge games for Orient this month and now is the time for everyone to pull together to try and stop the unthinkable happening.