Central defender believes Orient can beat Wycombe Wanderers and also discusses his history with new signing Jack Payne
Connor Essam is hoping Leyton Orient can send out another message to the rest of League Two by defeating Wycombe Wanderers tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon.
The clash at Brisbane Road sees the divisions pace setters host last season’s beaten play-off finalists, managed Gareth Ainsworth.
Ian Hendon’s side are confident going into the fixture at E10 especially considering their record in front of their home supporters.
The 23-year-old defender, who has played every minute for the O’s so far, is keen for them to continue their encouraging start.
“I think Wycombe will certainly be up there come the end of the season so it will certainly send a message to the rest of the league if we do win and if we are to get out of this division our home form is going to be vital,” said Essam.
“We need to make Brisbane Road a fortress and we have got to look to take three points from every game there so we have made a decent start, but it is only that. We have the foundations now and we want to really push on and start forming a gap at the top.”
Orient’s defensive record on home soil is impressive, they are yet to concede while Wycombe have only let in four goals all season – the best in League Two.
Therefore Essam expects it to be tight tomorrow, but is confident the attacking quality in Hendon’s team can earn another three points.
He said: “Wycombe have had a good, decent start to the season themselves, but with it at home, where we have won three out of three and not conceded a goal, we are not going to be scared of anyone.
“We back ourselves to win any game, but we are under no illusions it will be a tough match. I think we will worry about ourselves, we will do the things we do well and if we do that we should get something from the game.
“With our clean sheet record at home and their decent defensive record it might be a tight one, but a couple of our matches at Brisbane Road have been like that.
“It has been like that for 60 or 70 minutes and then our quality has shone through in the end so if the game goes like that we are quite happy to keep it tight and I think we have the quality to win the game.”
Jack Payne, after making his debut against Cambridge United last weekend, will hope to keep his starting role against the Chairboys.
Essam is pleased the former Gillingham midfielder has finally completed his switch to Brisbane Road on a season-long loan, adding: “Me and Jack have known each other since we were about 10-years-old and I am actually godfather to his little boy.
“Him moving to Orient was a long time coming, it had been a long wait over the summer and people were wondering what was going to go on with him, but Jack is a fantastic footballer.
“Everybody could see that in the game against Cambridge. You can see the qualities he has got and that just adds to what we have already got here.
“We are both pretty happy here and just looking to push on now and get the club out of this league.”
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