The O’s made it three wins in the space of seven days to return to the top of the National League

Leyton Orient assistant manager Ross Embleton praised the effort of the O’s team after they secured a vital 1-0 win over National League title rivals Wrexham in front of the BT Sport cameras this afternoon.

Marvin Ekpiteta’s deflected strike in the 72nd minute settled a tight contest in east London to spark wild celebrations at full time.

After winning away to Havant & Waterlooville and Barrow last week, Justin Edinburgh’s team had backed it up against previous leaders Wrexham.

Embleton said: “We have a strong belief we will always come strong, but we had to take into consideration the week we have had and what we have been through and how tough it has been on the loads.

“But we were confident we could still go toe-to-toe and in this league the first half an hour is always frantic and in a game like today you know that lasts longer because there is so much riding on it.

“We were comfortable at half time, but we knew we probably needed to go a little more and show more quality in our play to create some chances.”

Eventually the opportunity arrived and while it was far from pretty, Ekpieta’s half volley managed to just about beat Rob Lainton.

While O’s number 21 took the plaudits and the BT Sport man of the match, it was Dan Happe who was really Orient’s star man.

The academy graduate was assured throughout and continues to come of age during a pivotal part of the season for the club.

“Dan Happe for me, without blowing him up to much, is an incredible talent. He does things a lot of defenders in this league don’t see at times,” Embleton said.

“He brings a real assurance with what he does on the ball and especially for a lad of his age.

“Obviously he needs to learn and develop the defensive side of his game and be more aggressive, but since he came into the team he has done that really well.

“I was delighted for him today to put in the performance he did and then Marvin’s already came up with one or two important goals this season and we were all over the moon to see it wriggle over the line.”