Liverani: Rochdale’s goal was a psychological blow
Rochdale score their winning goal against Leyton Orient (pic: Simon O'Connor) - Credit: Archant
Brisbane Road manager disappointed with goal and reveals why Jay Simpson was only on the bench
Leyton Orient players look downcast after Rochdale's winner (pic: Simon O'Connor) - Credit: Archant
Leyton Orient manager Fabio Liverani admitted Ian Henderson’s 66th minute goal for Rochdale was a huge psychological blow for his team at Spotland Stadium yesterday as they lost 1-0.
Dale’s top goalscorer fired past O’s goalkeeper Alex Cisak and it would prove to be the only goal of the game.
Leyton Orient fans show their dismay at Rochdale (pic: Simon O'Connor) - Credit: Archant
The defeat kept the Brisbane Road club in the bottom four and was a massive blow to their hopes of remaining in League One.
Orient’s Italian boss had substituted Ryan Hedges two minutes before the opening goal and introduced Bradley Pritchard in his place, but he didn’t believe this had anything to do with the goal.
Orient's Jay Simpson scores a consolation against MK Dons (pic: Simon O'Connor). - Credit: Gavin Ellis/TGSPHOTO
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“I don’t see the substitution being linked to the goal we conceded,” said Liverani.
“The goal came from a mistake defensively and we needed to do the substation in terms of the performance and fitness of the players. I don’t think Pritchard had anything to do with the goal.
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“Rochdale, particularly after the goal, had their confidence up because before that I didn’t see much difference between the two teams.
“After the goal it was psychologically very good for them and very bad for us.”
Liverani surprisingly dropped Jay Simpson to the bench, despite his goal being one of the few positives during Saturday’s 6-1 defeat at MK Dons.
David Mooney instead returned alongside four other players as O’s boss continues to tinker with his starting team.
Elliot Omozusi, Josh Wright, Dean Cox and Ryan Hedges were all recalled, but their Italian manager felt it wasn’t right to discuss individuals after the defeat.
“I don’t think it is fair to talk about individuals in this moment. We have to talk about the unit and the team, not one individual,” added Liverani.
“Jay Simpson did have a good game at MK Dons, but it is also true he hasn’t played 90 minutes for a very long time.
“Also he didn’t train fully during the week. He was out with a stomach problem on Sunday so didn’t train and so I thought he would be a useful substitute during the game. Unfortunately things didn’t go well.”