Hessenthaler confirms Jamaican international set to miss next two games with torn calf

East London Advertiser: Leyton Orient caretaker Andy Hessenthaler shows his frustration on the touchline (pic: Simon O'Connor).Leyton Orient caretaker Andy Hessenthaler shows his frustration on the touchline (pic: Simon O'Connor). (Image: 07958 573219 simon.oconnor@virgin.net)

Leyton Orient caretaker Andy Hessenthaler admits Jobi McAnuff is unlikely to feature again for the club before the end of the season.

The 34-year-old hasn’t played for the O’s since missing a penalty in the 1-1 draw at York City on April 2 - his 19th appearance of the campaign.

Rumours began to speculate that the Jamaican international wasn’t playing due to certain terms in his contract, but that definitely isn’t the case.

He suffered a tear in his calf earlier this month and with just two more matches remaining, the former Reading captain isn’t likely to get back to full fitness before May 7.

“I very much doubt Jobi will feature before the end of the campaign. He has a calf problem and I’d be amazed if he is fit,” said Hessenthaler.

“We do miss him, his quality and experience and certainly his creativity in the final third. On Saturday against AFC Wimbledon we just didn’t have enough quality in the final third.”

McAnuff wasn’t available for the clash at the Cherry Red Records Stadium while top goalscorer Jay Simpson missed out with a back problem.

Nigel Atangana couldn’t play against the Dons either where O’s lost 1-0 following Lyle Taylor’s 17th minute strike after a mistake by Peter Ramage.

The French midfielder was substituted at home to Dagenham & Redbridge on April 16 with a groin problem before playing against Plymouth Argyle on Tuesday.

But he couldn’t recover in time from that issue to face Wimbledon, although Hessenthaler refused to use that as an excuse for their defeat.

He added: “We’ve missed Jobi’s quality to create something. He gives us that and Jay, we know what he brings. He’s got 25 goals and he was missing on Saturday.

“Nigel was missing so it is unfortunate for ourselves, but we’re not going to hide behind that. We still had a squad of players that could go out there and compete and try to get a win and unfortunately we couldn’t do that.”