Orient winger hurt by play-off loss

Moses Odubajo smashed a volley into the roof of the net to score the most spectacular goal of his fledgling career at Wembley.

But he claims it counted for nothing after Orient failed to clinch promotion to the Championship.

The winger said: “It was a great goal but we lost. It means nothing now in my eyes.”

The 20-year-old latched on to a weak defensive header to crack a left-footed shot into the net just after the half hour mark.

And he teed up Dean Cox to double the advantage soon after, but the O’s could not hold on as old boy Alex Revell’s double forced the game into extra time and then penalties.

Odubajo admitted manager Russell Slade was as down as the players after the 4-3 shoot-out defeat, but chairman Barry Hearn popped into the dressing room to try and lift the troops.

He said: “The manager is the same as we are. He didn’t really say much, emotions took over.

“The chairman came in to try and lift our hearts but what’s done is done.

“He came in with little words of wisdom and we’ll go again next season.”

Odubajo did not fancy himself as one of the first five penalty takers but said he would go seventh “if it came down to it.”

He echoed the sentiments of his team-mates, placing no blame on Mathieu Baudry and Chris Dagnall after their cruel penalty misses.

And Odubajo thinks the game went away from the O’s in the first 15 minutes of the second half.

“In the first 15 minutes of the second half, we dropped off as a team,” he added.

“They’re a direct team and sometimes you try and anticipate things by dropping off.

“We invited pressure and got punished, but we retaliated after the second goal.”

After a brilliant season individually, with 12 goals and many more assists, there is bound to be interest in the lightning-quick wide man this summer.

For now though, Odubajo’s future is the last thing on his mind. He added: “Words can’t explain how we feel. At the end of the day there has to be a loser.

“I want to let my hair down, relax and go again next year.”