Orient forwards are striking all the right notes

Ollie Palmer, Armand Gnanduillet and Jay Simpson have all scored for the O’s over past week

Leyton Orient player-manager Kevin Nolan is delighted with the forward options he has available to him at Brisbane Road.

Armand Gnanduillet was the hero for the O’s on Saturday as his brace helped see off Crawley Town in League Two.

The previous weekend, Ollie Palmer had made an impact off the substitutes bench at Notts County and been praised for his hunger to impress.

Jay Simpson, meanwhile, hardly needs an introduction having scored 23 goals already this season to comfortably lead the charts in the fourth tier.

But it was Gnanduillet’s turn to show what he was all about last weekend and his goals ensured Orient got a deserved victory.

And it left his player-manager delighted to have so many good options available at his disposal, he said: “Armand has played and scored two, went off and then Ollie’s come on.

“Ollie has done exactly what we wanted again off the bench. We have two lads now who are champing at each other’s ears.

“That’s great, it’s competition. It shows if one of them isn’t on it, the other will be ready to step into his shoes. Armand has got to make sure he is on it every game now.”

Before Gnanduillet’s transfer in January, Orient had used Scott Kashket as an alternative off the bench and another youngster in Victor Adeboyejo on occasions.

While both have huge potential, having Palmer now as an impact substitute is a massive boost for Nolan and his coaching staff.

Previous boss Ian Hendon was unlucky to lose Paul McCallum to a cruciate knee ligament injury towards the end of September.

The former West Ham United forward had started the campaign in fine form too – scoring three times in nine appearances.

But while Hendon wasn’t able to replacement him, Nolan now has a plethora of talent at his disposal.

And it appears it will not be too long before McCallum is another option for him.

Nolan added: “Paul’s progress is going fantastically well, he is a great lad and I worked with him a lot at West Ham.

“He is a hard working individual and at this moment in time he is back on the pitch doing his runs and bits and bobs in the gym.

“He is working really hard and I’m hoping we can have him back again in the next month to six weeks.”

For the time being Orient will continue their promotion charge with Simpson, Gnanduillet and Palmer as their main forwards and the talented 20-year-old Kashket as fourth choice.

The main trio would have hoped to play some part as O’s made the long trip to Carlisle United last night (Tuesday), but after scoring twice against Crawley, Gnanduillet missed out through injury.

But Simpson and Palmer both stepped up to score as the east Londoners returned back to Brisbane Road with a point following a 2-2 draw.

When a manager has plenty of good attacking options to choose from, success inevitably follows - hopefully it continues for Orient and Nolan.