Though Orient’s supporters are dreaming of a top six finish after their incredible run of form after the Boxing Day triumph against Charlton, the team had one eye on the relegation zone at Christmas.
The Os have climbed as high as seventh in the rankings in recent weeks thanks to victories over Cambridge, Portsmouth, Bolton, Carlisle, and Port Vale.
The last two games, a 2-1 loss to Burton and a 4-3 victory over Northampton, have revealed a problem in Richie Wellens’ team, though.
The centre-back predicament for Leyton Orient.
Orient had five centre backs going into the January transfer window: Ed Turns, Adam Thompson, Dan Happe, Omar Beckles, and Brandon Cooper.
Wellens’ go-to duo is now Happe, who graduated from the club’s academy in 2017, and Beckles, the Chair of the Professional Footballers’ Association.
The two earned their spots for the current campaign since they were essential to the League Two title-winning team of the previous season.
Cooper, on the other hand, joined the team on loan from Swansea during the summer but was later added permanently.
The 24-year-old briefly made an impression at the Gaughan Group Stadium before being sent off for pushing James Collins of Derby County in December.
After the incident, he was sidelined for several weeks, and it wasn’t until recently that he was able to rejoin the starting lineup because of an injury to Happe.
Leyton Orient’s mishandled transfer.
The Os have just three centre defenders going into the crucial later stages of the season after Turns and Thompson were both waved off last month despite the lack of suitable replacements.
Turns, spending his second year on loan from Brighton, was unfortunate not to have had more opportunities to play before being called up.
He had demonstrated both the skill with the ball that one would anticipate from a Seagulls player and the maturity in his defence of a player who was far older than him.
There was undoubtedly a case to be made for him to have been higher on the pecking order than the careless Beckles.
In contrast, Thompson had made much less of an impression during his time in East London, frequently dealing with injuries.
Nevertheless, he will be playing for National League team Barnet until the summer, so he would have offered sufficient cover until then.
The Orient hierarchy did not think this was a gamble worth taking, and the team is already suffering as a result.
Because of his injury, which could keep him out for more than a month, Cooper and Beckles will have to start each game.
Furthermore, not only does the Os’ incapacity to rotate players result in more injuries than they can handle, but it can also breed complacency.
After giving up three goals against Northampton, at least one of the two ought to have been benched, but that was not possible.
And although they shouldn’t be in the starting lineup for the trip to play-off contender Oxford after allowing 18th-place Burton to score twice over the weekend, they will.
Remarks from Richie Wellens regarding centre backs and play-off prospects.
It is understandable that Wellens is not pleased with the way his two centre backs have been playing lately or with the circumstances the board has placed him in.
After Saturday’s loss to Burton, Wellens posted the following on YouTube: “In the last two home games, we’ve faced six shots, and the opposition has scored five goals.”
“After Omar Beckles and Brandon Cooper left the club, the other two centre backs were just not good enough.
“The center-back passed it to the full-back safely each time he got it. You are not allowed to play that way.”
The former Swindon boss continued by suggesting that the Os might have lost the chance to participate in the race for the top six spots.
I was thinking that Oxford and Stevenage would lose today, so I’m really upset.
“We don’t have enough players on the team to really compete for play-off spots. Although we still have a chance, we have to prevail today.
“Players understand that they must start when the squad is shorthanded because no one else will take their shirt. For us, that drop of 10 or 15 percent is significant.”
Now, the Os must defeat Oxford at the Kassam Stadium on Saturday if they hope to have any chance of qualifying for the play-offs.
