Orient player-manager happy with deadline day transfers and confident of earning promotion from League One
Leyton Orient player-manager Kevin Nolan is confident the club can achieve their goals after boosting his squad on the final day of the winter transfer window.
The 33-year-old was busy on Monday and brought Nicky Hunt to the club on a permanent basis from League Two rivals Mansfield Town.
Crystal Palace youngster Jerome Binnom-Williams signed on loan until the end of the season after Cole Kpekawa was recalled by Queens Park Rangers.
While Calaum’s Jahraldo-Martin’s stay from Hull City was extended and he is now available to play the rest of the campaign for the O’s.
Earlier in the window, Orient loaned in Shaun Brisley from Peterborough and signed Nigel Atangana and Armand Gnanduillet from Portsmouth and Chesterfield respectively.
After completing all that business, the former West Ham United captain believes his squad is now ready to earn promotion this year.
“It was a different experience for me and the phone didn’t stop ringing, the wife has got a taste of what it is like being a manager’s wife,” said Nolan.
“I think it was good we got a couple in on deadline day. It was fantastic for me and we are hoping they can add to a squad which we feel is good enough to try and push on to get promotion out of the league.
“The ultimate aim is to make sure come the end of the season we are in those play-off positions, or even higher, but it is one game at a time.
“We can’t get carried away with ourselves, it is a process we are going through at the moment. We are trying to make sure that we keep our feet firmly on the ground.
“After the two wins that is what we tried to do and something I will look at is the three games in a week, next time I will change the team around because the lads did seem a bit flat on Saturday.
“You live and learn and that is what it is all about. I am a very confident lad and I will be giving everything I can to make sure we achieve our goals.”
Nolan and the Orient squad went over the Cambridge United loss this week like they normally do after every game.
The O’s boss was disappointed with the goals they conceded, but more frustrated by the fact that they had looked solid for much of the encounter at Brisbane Road.
He added: “Obviously I knew at some point a defeat was going to come and I didn’t want it to come as soon as it has, but it is one of those things.
“You have got to keep positive in the way you try to get stuff over to the team and implement what you want to do at a weekend.
“After watching it back, I don’t believe we did much wrong except make three really silly mistakes and schoolboy errors and that has cost us the game.
“I don’t think Cambridge created an awful lot, I think they had one other shot on target, which the goalkeeper comfortably saved, so that is the most disappointing aspect of the whole match.
“Another thing which I was quite disappointed with was that the referee was quite poor on Saturday in the major decisions, well not major, but the key ones he got wrong.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here