Orient’s Dagnall targets Tykes

Orient's Ryan Hedges celebrates his goal against Yeovil with Darius Henderson and Chris Dagnall (pic: Simon O'Connor) (Image: Simon O'Connor Photography)

Leyton Orient striker Chris Dagnall admits it will be good to catch up with some familiar faces when Barnsley visit Brisbane Road tomorrow night.

But the 28-year-old, who spent two years at Oakwell, is determined to upset the Yorkshire club’s bid for a seventh successive win in League One.

Dagnall fired O’s on their way to a 3-0 success over basement boys Yeovil at the weekend, taking his tally for the season to 12.

And he can’t wait to take on Barnsley, saying: “I’m really looking forward to it. There’s still a few faces there from my time. It will be good to see them.

“They’re doing really well at the moment, but we’ve got to concentrate on ourselves.

“We believe 100 per cent we can do it, we’ve got to be more consistent with performances, do it again Tuesday night and next Saturday.”

Orient did not look short of belief against the Glovers, racing out of the blocks to net twice inside eight minutes and gain the upper hand.

Dagnall drove home the first, before Ryan Hedges slotted in a second, and Fabio Liverani’s side could have added several more before the break.

“The first 20-25 minutes we were getting chance after chance and in games we’ve not been putting them away,” said Dagnall.

“It’s strange, but we got the early goal and followed it up with the second and confidence grows with the lads.

“A lot of it was down to our good play. The pressure, from the off, we put on the back four they maybe weren’t expecting so much and it paid off massively.

“You can see the football we played, it was good to get the third goal and we move onto Tuesday now.”

After Dagnall and Darius Henderson both hit the woodwork in the first half, Jobi McAnuff netted a third on the hour to end any faint hopes of a Yeovil comeback.

But a fourth win in seven made little difference in the standings, as Orient remain two points adrift of safety after Coventry’s win at Chesterfield.

“A couple of teams just above us won so we need to keep grabbing points as often as we can,” added Dagnall.

“Every game we play now is a massive game. We’ve got the Barnsley game and then a massive game at Crawley on Saturday. If we play like we did Saturday, I think we should be okay.”

Dagnall paid tribute to young midfielder Hedges, who returned from a slight thigh strain to net the second goal of his loan spell, following an earlier strike in the 2-0 win at Walsall.

But he revealed he has not had any talks of his own with the club yet about extending his stay in east London, with his contract due to expire this season.

He said: “They’ve been two great finishes from young Ryan. He’s got a lot of potential and he’s showed that with his two finishes so far.

“But I’ve not heard nothing so far. I’m settled in the area, my girlfriend loves it here, I’ve got no reason to move on at the moment, so we’ll see what happens in the summer.”