Top goalscorer at Brisbane Road reflects on difficult week at the club and second half against Dagenham

East London Advertiser: Jay Simpson scores the second goal for Leyton Orient against Dagenham & Redbridge (pic: Simon O'Connor/TGSPHOTO)Jay Simpson scores the second goal for Leyton Orient against Dagenham & Redbridge (pic: Simon O'Connor/TGSPHOTO) (Image: �TGS Photo tgsphoto.co.uk +44 1376 553468)

Jay Simpson admitted the Leyton Orient players were unsure at times what was happening at the club during the past week, but praised his team mates for getting back to winning ways.

The 27-year-old scored twice in the first half to help inspire a 3-2 success over local rivals Dagenham & Redbridge on Saturday.

It was a thrilling encounter at Brisbane Road and a turbulent week for everyone in E10 finished with all three points in League Two.

Kevin Nolan had his managerial duties taken away while Lee Harrison’s contract was terminated, but Simpson said the players at the club last year, when O’s had four different managers by December, have witnessed worse.

He said: “The boys have done well this week because we were kind of left in limbo ourselves, we didn’t really know what was going on. Then they came in and had a meeting with us to explain their decisions.

“As players you’ve just got to get on with it. I think the people that were here last year probably went through worst, but we had the game against Dagenham and another on Tuesday so it’s not something we could dwell on.”

Orient did make things difficult for themselves at the weekend against their rivals by conceding twice in the space of a minute in the second half.

They were cruising when 2-0 up, but switched off and goals from Jamie Cureton and Clevid Dikamona put the match back in the balance.

But Blair Turgott picked out Gnanduillet in the box and he beat Mark Cousins in the 65th minute to give O’s the crucial victory.

“I wouldn’t say we were comfortable because we wanted to go on and score as many as we could in the second half,” added Simpson.

“At this point of the season goal difference can play a big part in where you end up in the table. We wanted to go on, keep a clean sheet and try to get a few more goals. Obviously it didn’t go that way, but at the end of the day we got the three points.”

The former Arsenal youngster admits if Orient are to reach the play-offs, they need to build up some momentum during the next few weeks.

With four more games remaining, including one against promotion rivals Plymouth Argyle tomorrow, Simpson challenged his team mates to keep winning.

He added: “We are still two points off seventh, but for any club in the division going into the play-offs. You want to go into it on a good run with a bit of momentum.

“You don’t want to be the team that is comfortably in the play-offs or in the top three and then drop out and go into it that way. We’ve still got four games to go, we’ll keep pushing and hopefully we get in there.”