The Hertfordshire-based club punched above their weight last season and made it to the National League play-off final

East London Advertiser: Justin Edinburgh urges Leyton Orient on against Gateshead (pic: Simon O'Connor).Justin Edinburgh urges Leyton Orient on against Gateshead (pic: Simon O'Connor). (Image: Simon O'Connor Photography)

Leyton Orient assistant manager Ross Embleton knows the O’s can expect another tough game in the National League this weekend away to Boreham Wood.

The 12.35pm kick-off, which will be broadcast live on BT Sport, will see the current leaders take on a side that lost out in the play-off final to Tranmere Rovers last term.

Orient have enjoyed a superb campaign to date and while Wood have failed to match the heights of the 2017/18 season, Embleton praised the work of Luke Garrard and is under no illusions about the size of the task at hand on Saturday at Meadow Park.

He said: “I think you would expect us to have the dominance when it comes to fans in attendance again.

“Boreham Wood are a team who did really, really well last season and there is no doubt about it they punched well above their weight.

“When you do that, it is hard to repeat because you lose good players and it is hard to sustain, but we know in this league there are no easy games.

“I don’t want to use that cliché, but we know we will be in for a battle first and then we need to cope with it to go above and beyond and get a result.”

In many ways Saturday’s game at Boreham Wood will be similar to O’s most recent clash with Gateshead.

The Heed visited E10 last weekend and produced a strong first half before Orient took the lead and never looked back.

“Gateshead never played in the week, so they had a rest and I know they had the long journey, but it takes time to take it out of your legs sometimes,” Embleton said.

“Everyone thinks the end of the game is where you tire, but sometimes it is the first half where you are trying to get going and get up to match speed against a team who have had a week’s preparation.

“We did grind it out in the end, but we want to impose ourselves on the game a little bit more than we did in the first half, although the most important thing is to keep getting the wins.”

It went slightly under the radar, but Orient’s back four again impressed in what was Dean Brill’s 350th career appearance – a day before his 33rd birthday.

Embleton admitted the likes of Josh Coulson and Marvin Ekpiteta enjoy the challenge of defending O’s penalty area.

He added: “They all deserve huge credit and it is a massive element of what we are about now because there were times last season where we were venerable, but we enjoy defending our area.

“When there are stages where we are under a bit of pressure, I look at our back four, goalkeeper and the midfield boys who join in and they look happy to defend those areas.

“In this league lots of teams put a lot of balls into the area, so you have to be happy to put your body on the line, but first and foremost you need to be aggressive in that area of the pitch and we’ve added that.”

Orient will aim to show this on Saturday in front of another Meadow Park crowd full of travelling away supporters from the O’s.