Richie Wellens thinks a point was fair for Leyton Orient and former club Swindon

Posted Sunday, March 05, 2023 by PA

Boss Richie Wellens had no complaints after the 1-1 home draw with Swindon that leaves his top-of-the-table Leyton Orient side 11 points clear of the pursuers in Sky Bet League Two.

The hosts led through a first-half goal from central defender Omar Beckles but Swindon fought back and restored parity after the break through substitute Jacob Wakeling.

It was only the second time Orient’s defence, the joint meanest in the EFL, had conceded a goal in their last 12 home games.

“In the end I felt Swindon deserved the point, “said Wellens, a former Swindon manager, who celebrates a year in charge of the east London club next week.

“First half we bullied them and knew they were struggling defensively due to an injury crisis and thought we could hurt them.

“But maybe second half, we played too many tippy-tappy passes, which is fine but you have to hurt teams and we didn’t. We didn’t do what we do in training throughout the game.

“I think if any team deserved to win it then we definitely put more pressure on them with balls around their box and creating more opportunities but I just felt there was a 20-minute spell, similar to Grimsby last week, where we made bad decisions.

“The goal we conceded was really poor. For a left centre-back to clear it and then a second ball be picked up by a wing-back and score is poor.

“It would have been very generous had we been given the penalty for the shout at the end where Paul Smyth went down.

“They have some very good technical players and if you step off then they will punish you but a draw was a fair result in my opinion.”

Swindon manager Jody Morris praised his squad, who are now unbeaten in three matches.

“I am delighted with the point and I thought the lads fought right to the end,” he stated.

“Defensively we had to withstand an avalanche of long throws and crosses, which is difficult when we don’t have the biggest players on the pitch at the end of the game.

“We can play better than we did today but when you have three of the back five making their first start this season, then it’s always tough.

Morris had sympathy for left-back Reece Devine, who was replaced in the second half, adding: “I am absolutely devastated for Reece, who had to come off through injury. He’s had injury after injury.

“Despite having a makeshift back five, I felt it was a poor goal to concede and a gift for Orient.

“We talked about it before the game, we showed the players the video analysis and people just didn’t do their jobs, which you can’t do at any level.

“Credit to the lads though, we withstood the pressure and it was a great point against the best team in the league, where our fresh legs and pace punished them.”