Leyton Orient boss Richie Wellens left ‘disappointed’ by Wigan draw

Posted Sunday, November 26, 2023 by PA

Richie Wellens felt his Leyton Orient side did enough to earn victory in their 1-1 draw at home to Wigan.

Stephen Humphrys drilled a first-minute penalty against a post for the Latics before on-loan Watford striker Shaq Forde put the hosts in front.

But just before the break Humphrys atoned for his miss when he fired a shot from outside the area low into the corner of the net for his seventh league goal of the season.

That equaliser extended Orient’s winless run in the league to six games, but Wellens said there were “loads of positives” to take from the game.

“I think Wigan are a good team and there are not many better front fours in this division,” he said.

“The game started with a pattern where they didn’t play with a striker and they sucked us into areas to switch the play and get runners into pockets.

“They threatened us a few times, but I thought we threatened them more and could have had a few more goals today.

“Today was a big improvement from Tuesday (a 1-0 home defeat to Lincoln). I enjoyed the game tactically and, when we get the press right, we’re a good team, but when we don’t, it’s the youngness we have where we need to talk more.

“When we got it wrong last year in League Two, we played against teams that didn’t take advantage of it. When you step up a level you’ll play against players who will hurt you.

“Loads of positives today, though, and I was just disappointed we didn’t win the game as I thought we created some good chances and dominated the territory.”

Wigan boss Shaun Maloney said the draw was “probably a fair result”.

He said: “I didn’t think there was much control in the game from either team in either half.

“There were probably more chances in the first half.

“The big positive for us is that we’ve had many games like that this season, such as Stevenage, Burton and Cheltenham, but today we stood up to the long ball and the physicality.

“I spoke to the players afterwards and told them that was the biggest positive. I want us to try and play better with the ball at times and go man for man, but a point was about right for me.

“One defeat in seven is definitely another positive. The goal they scored I didn’t like at all. A long ball forward and they created a two versus two in our box, which I didn’t like at all.

“But overall we saw today a side that are improving.”