Danny Webb delighted with effort of his young squad since taking charge and hoping they can keep showing quality

East London Advertiser: Josh Koroma (centre) is mobbed by his Leyton Orient team-mates after completing his hat-trick at Newport County (pic: Simon O'Connor).Josh Koroma (centre) is mobbed by his Leyton Orient team-mates after completing his hat-trick at Newport County (pic: Simon O'Connor). (Image: Simon O'Connor Photography)

Leyton Orient manager Danny Webb backed his young squad to impress again when mid-table League Two outfit Grimsby Town make the lengthy trip down to Brisbane Road this weekend.

The O’s ended their run of three consecutive defeats with an impressive 4-0 thrashing of basement club Newport County last weekend.

Orient are still five points from safety, but the east London club’s young and

inexperienced team demonstrated at Rodney Parade they are not going down without a fight.

“I’ve taken the baton on at the very last moment and you think of the squad we had pre-season and look now, it has gradually wilted itself down to a very young team,” said Webb.

“But I have no complaints about that because I know they will give me 100 per cent and you have seen glimpses at Newport of what they can offer.

“And they don’t just give 100 per cent either. They are not young lads who are going out there to run around a bit.

“They are also very good footballers and I said the same after Stevenage and I will say the same after Grimsby.”

Orient’s win last weekend was Webb’s second since taking over on January 29, but most of the performances under the 33-year-old have been encouraging.

The O’s displays dipped slightly in the 1-0 defeat to Cheltenham Town and the 4-1 loss at Stevenage, but the effort and desire was still present.

In both of those matches they lacked quality in the crucial areas of the pitch, though that wasn’t the case in South Wales on Saturday.

Webb added: “Every player has put a shift in since I have been manager and even when it was 4-1 at Stevenage, we conceded bad goals and there was some sloppy play for 20 minutes, but the boys have given everything.

“At Stevenage we were probably stronger on paper than at Newport, but we were still very young. I think we must be the youngest team in the Football League and I’m happy with that. I’m pleased the fans have seen on Saturday that maybe they have something to look forward to.”

Orient are set to travel to fellow strugglers Accrington Stanley next Tuesday after entertaining the Mariners this weekend.

Webb could really do with two positive results this week and will have some more senior players available again.

Paul McCallum should be fit to face Grimsby and Gavin Massey will be back for the trip to Accrington as his two-game suspension ends on Saturday.

But after fine performances by Josh Koroma, Steven Alzate and Sam Dalby at Newport, Webb has some tough decisions to make over his starting XIs for the upcoming fixtures.

He added: “The average age of our squad at Newport was 20.5 I believe, so they’ve gone up against a team full of proper men and shown they are men at 17 and 18-years-old.

“If people are getting excited about them now, then just think what they are going to be like in four or five years.”