League Two club on verge of signing Nicky Hunt from division rivals Mansfield Town
Leyton Orient player-manager Kevin Nolan believes his squad are as disappointed as he is after losing to Cambridge United today and expects them to bounce back quickly.
The O’s perfect start under their new boss ended as two goals by Ben Williamson and another from Jimmy Spencer gave the U’s all three points at Brisbane Road.
Armand Gnanduillet did pull one back for the hosts to make it 2-1 in the second half, but defensive errors proved costly once again.
It seems them drop to ninth in the table and one point off the League Two play-off positions now ahead of facing Portsmouth next weekend.
“As a player and captain I always took defeats really hard as well as winning and one thing you need to learn is you must keep your feet firmly on the ground no matter what happens,” said Nolan.
“If you are on a four-match winning run you ride the wave because it can always come crashing down at any minute and it feels like it has today.
“Listen I have been a professional footballer for a long time and I am just hoping them lads in the changing room are just as disappointed as me and I think they are judging the way they have acted and how the meeting has gone.
“I have certainly put my point across and now it is about putting this behind us and looking forward. We have dropped out of the play-offs, which is not good, but now the pressure is on us and it is pressure we have built and created ourselves.
“The lads are going to have a couple of days to sit back and relax and then on Tuesday they are going to be getting the video of this game and that is something for them to look forward to.
“After that we’ll have what will be a tough game at Portsmouth, but hopefully we come out of it and we are not talking about a performance like this, but one of the Wycombe or Newport standard.”
Orient’s player-manager revealed after the match that they are interested in signing Mansfield Town captain Nicky Hunt.
The pair played together at Bolton Wanderers and it is understood the two League Two teams have agreed a fee for the 32-year-old.
He expects that signing to be completed in the next 48 hours after Hunt was left out of the Stags side this afternoon.
Nolan added: “Obviously he is someone we are really interested in and hopefully we will see some positive news in the next 48 hours - maybe a couple, but Nicky is certainly one we are interested in.
“I said last week we have a lot of options in the forward line and in midfield, but defensively we haven’t so it is a position we want to bolster.
“We managed to get Shaun Brisley in and we are hoping to get one or two more in before the window shuts.”
The O’s player-manager also admitted he expects a phone call from Sam Allardyce this evening after speaking to his former boss numerous times of late.
He added: “I am still very much in contact with Sam. I spoke to him before and after the Wycombe game and once through this week.
“I am sure he will be giving me a call tonight to give me some advice about how to deal with defeat and he’ll say ‘now you know how it feels when uses didn’t do it for me’ so I am sure I will be getting that later.”
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