Huddersfield Await..

Despite this essentially being League One South, the O’s are about to embark on a mini tour of t’North, with games against Huddersfield, Hartlepool and Dirty Leeds in the near future. First up is Lee Clark’s Huddersfield Town side who are lingering on the fringes of the playoff battle. Having invested heavily in the summer, I’m sure that everyone in Leeds-lite is pretty disappointed not to be up there with their near neighbours.

Indeed, should Orient do the unlikely and win there for a third consecutive season, the O’s will move alongside the Yorkshiremen on points (but still about 10 goals behind on goal difference). In the past two seasons Orient have arrived, scored within two minutes via Adam Boyd, and then parked the proverbial bus in front of goal to cling on to the three points. Something tells me that we’re not going to be able to accomplish that this season (perhaps because Adam Boyd has been sold to Hartlepool? -ed), and I’m expecting a complete tonking from a side which has scored 16 goals in six home games. We’ve scored 15 goals in all our League games so far. Oh dear…

Finally it’ll be nice to see the supporters of Huddersfield again after last season’s Andy Booth love-in. Proper set of fans. Despite the inevitable nul points, I’m going to enjoy this one.

Vital Quotes:

‘We’re on a decent run at the moment, so we are looking forward to going to Huddersfield. Winning games always gives you confidence. We need to try and get a bit of consistency and make the Brentford win count by getting a result.’ – Noooooooooge, speaking to the Official Leyton Orient site.

‘It’s important our home form is as good as it has been. We are confident in the players we’ve got, and I think we are playing well. The performances in the past few weeks have been of the highest order and I can see individual players coming back to their best. Orient have won two of their last three games so will be coming here buoyant, but it’s down to us to go about our jobs in the right manner. We will be looking to win the game.’ – Town gaffer Lee Clark speaking to Huddersfield’s Official site.

Huddersfield Town Team News:

Defender Tom Clarke and striker Robbie Simpson are both unavilable, but Lee Peltier has recovered from a knock he picked up at Charlton last week.

Andy Booth has retired, so won’t be there to keep up his goal-a-game ratio againt the O’s.

Player to watch: Jordan Rhodes

Anthony Pilkington is quite capable of tearing us a new one, but it’s striker Rhodes who is catching the eye for the Terriers at the moment.

Despite only signing in the summer for 300k from Ipswich, he’s knocked in enough goals already for the scouts to start hovering. Town have recently released a ‘hands off’ warning as they look to chase their promotion dream.

Leyton Orient Team News:

Orient’s injury list eased slightly with the return of skipper Stephen Purches last week, Zorro mask and all.

Adam Chambers has continued his comeback in the reserves, though he is unlikely to be risked for anything more than a late sub appearance.

Sean Thornton, Jamie Jones and Daryl Sydes are both still out, though Adrian Patulea should be fit to return after the knock which kept him out of the Brentford match.

Player to watch: Ben Chorley

He’s already in a two-way fight with Scott McGleish for player of the year, and the gargantuan stopper will need to have another big game to stop Town’s potent attacking threat in its tracks.