Richie Wellens felt Leyton Orient thoroughly deserved victory over Blackpool

Posted Sunday, November 10, 2024 by PA

Richie Wellens felt Leyton Orient got what they deserved after watching them secure a 3-0 win over Blackpool to move two points clear of the drop zone.

The O’s second home league win of the season arrived after Sonny Perkins, on loan from Leeds, scored on his Orient league debut in the first half before Charlie Kelman and Tom James put the game to bed with two goals in five second-half minutes.

“I think we’ve been good at home in general and sometimes the results haven’t represented our performances,” Wellens said.

“Sonny Perkins has had to wait his chance and he needed to build his confidence up which we’ve tried to do progressively and his performance in general was really good today and he was a threat. Now he’s got in the team, he needs to make sure he stays in the team.

“We have a small squad but our substitutes worked because they went on and did the job which I asked them to do and did what was expected of them.

“We pressed them really well and I must he honest, Blackpool were outstanding in the first 15 minutes of the second half and caused us massive problems. (Kyle) Joseph could have scored and then hit the crossbar where we got lucky but overall, we deserved the result and got the little bit of luck we needed so credit to the players.

“Ideally we’d like a league game on Tuesday to keep that rhythm going as football can change very quickly and we’re now back in the pack.”

Blackpool boss Steve Bruce was forthright in his assessment of the way his team had played.

“We simply didn’t play well enough, especially in the first half,” he acknowledged.

“Then just when we got into the game in the second half when we had a 20-minute spell and looked more like us again, we didn’t take those big opportunities. Look, when you defend the way we’ve just ended today, then it’s going to be a very difficult afternoon because we defended so poorly and gave bad goals away.

“That’s something we have to improve upon and its’s been something now that has obviously crept in during the past few weeks in particular. We must give ourself a platform and stop the way we are defending at the minute.

“There was no concentration, we gave the ball away, they counter-attack and we conceded three awful goals.

“We should have had a penalty just after half-time and then we hit the bar and all of a sudden it becomes a different game.

“All three goals were really, really, poor.”