The 20-year-old didn’t feature in a competitive game under O’s former head coach, but enjoyed working with him

Leyton Orient goalkeeper Sam Sargeant may not have featured under Steve Davis this season, but he admitted everyone at the club, himself included, was gutted to see him sacked.

The ex-Crewe Alexandra boss was dismissed on Tuesday, November 14 after a run of 11 National League games without a victory.

Sargeant featured for Davis in pre-season, but once the campaign started on August 5 at Sutton United, Charlie Grainger was preferred in goal.

Despite not getting a chance to show what he could do on the pitch this term under the former Orient head coach, the 20-year-old paid tribute to his old boss.

“Myself and all the boys were gutted and you don’t want to see any manager come in and get the sack,” said Sargeant, when speaking after the 1-1 draw with Dover Athletic on Saturday.

“As much as I didn’t play under him, I enjoyed working with him and he had his ideas and we tried to use them in games.

“We started the season well and we’ve had a bad run, but we are all to blame because we haven’t been great. The decision was made and Ross (Embleton) has taken over and it’s good to start off with a positive result against a Dover team who are doing very well.”

Under the management of interim head coach Embleton, with assistance from goalkeeper coach Dean Brill, O’s managed to hold then National League leaders the Whites to a 1-1 draw.

Grainger was again initially picked to play in goal, but the 21-year-old suffered a hip injury during the warm-up.

It handed Sargeant a chance to show what he could do, after playing 18 times last season, and he didn’t let his team-mates down.

The youngster was forced into action with less than 60 seconds played when James Alabi got through on goal and the O’s number 12 saved well.

Despite a couple of nervy moments, Sargeant impressed on the whole and his willingness to command his area really caught the eye.

He said: “It’s the first time I’ve ever had to come in so early and I thought I wasn’t starting. I just needed to deal with it and in the warm-up ‘Deano’ told me I was playing and I didn’t react.

“I just thought ‘okay I’m playing and now this is where I get my mindset right’ and I did the warm-up as if I was starting, so I was very, not serious, but focused on the warm-up.

“It was my first game. I wanted to make a good impression and I just wanted to use the warm-up to give myself the best chance possible of doing that.”