Brisbane Road head coach reflects on goalless draw at Bridge Avenue and what other positions need strengthening in the Orient squad

Leyton Orient head coach Steve Davis is considering signing the two trialists currently at the club after they have impressed in recent weeks.

Jamie Sendles-White, formerly of Swindon Town, played 45 minutes for O’s during their goalless draw with Hornchurch last night.

The centre back ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in September and has been slowly finding his feet at Orient this month.

Meanwhile former Cheltenham Town winger James Dayton made another appearance off the bench for O’s yesterday and looked lively.

Davis said: “We will decide on the trialists. We know Jamie is coming back from a previous injury at Swindon, so he needs time, but there is enough to see he is a good footballer and defender.

“It is the same with ‘Dayts’ and I know him from many years ago and he has family based in Enfield, so is from around here.

“We need a left-footer and a bit of balance and he gives us that. Now whether we can find a better one or not remains to be seen, but at the moment he is at the forefront of our minds and we need to make a decision.

“I still think we are short of centre halves and I want another big one who can come in and give us that because Jamie probably won’t be ready. We don’t want to push him too hard too soon, so we need somebody who is fit and can come straight in.

“Michael Clark has done okay, but at the moment he is not quite ready for it, although he will play games this season. We are still a couple of players short and maybe another forward would help us as well going forward.”

Orient’s three-match pre-season winning streak came to an end last night, as Hornchurch goalkeeper Sam Mott made a string of saves.

The Urchins custodian denied Tristan Abrahams, Macauley Bonne, Joe Widdowson and Alex Lawless before the break.

George Purcell found the net for the hosts just before the hour mark, but his effort was ruled out after Theo Fairweather-Johnson was adjudged to be offside.

Charlie Lee and Trialist B Dayton forced fine saves from Mott later in the half before Rommy Boco had an effort blocked, as it finished goalless.

“The Hornchurch goalkeeper had an outstanding night, so I’ll have to get his details,” joked Davis.

“No, I am only kidding, but he was really good. He was big, came for crosses and made some terrific saves, including some from point-blank range, so he kept the score to nothing with three or four really good saves.

“I am not too bothered we didn’t score because there were positives like the clean sheet and we looked reasonably solid apart from the odd scare.

“We created a lot of chances and I would be concerned if we didn’t, so it is about showing a bit more composure and putting them away.”