O's boss Russell Slade spoke to the Ilford Recorder ahead of his side's League One match against Carlisle at Brunton Park this afternoon, Slade bemoaning some selection problems for the visitors at the moment :
"Obviously the injuries haven’t been kind to us and they have come at the wrong time. Between Jimmy Smith, Alex Revell and Ben Chorley those three players have scored 24 goals this season, so we miss having them in the side. But, we are all staying positive. They are a really great group of lads. Even if we didn’t make the play-offs this year, we would be a better side for it and the squad would take a huge amount of experience from this season.
“I won’t allow anyone to be thinking about the summer. Thoughts of lying on a beach or going on holiday are strictly forbidden. We have had a fantastic season, and I honestly believe we can still make that elusive sixth spot. After all, it’s a much better feeling fighting for a position at the top of the table, rather than scrapping at the bottom.”
Meanwhile O's frontman Ryan Jarvis told his club's official website :
"The belief is definitely still there. We had a great run and then we hit a blip, but we had a bit of luck with the first goal on Friday, which we haven't really had in recent games. I think it's turning and we're definitely going to give it a great push."
In team news for Orient this afternoon, as Russell Slade has mentioned, they will definitely be without three first-teamers in Ben Chorley, Alex Revell and Jimmy Smith. Centre-half Chorley out with a thigh injury, O's second top scorer striker Revell absent for the rest of the season with knee ligament damage picked up earlier this month 2-0 home win over Plymouth, and midfielder Smith sidelined with a knee injury from a 2-0 Brisbane Road defeat against Southampton two weeks ago. The visitors also now having major doubts over the participation of influential striker Scott McGleish who limped out of Friday's 2-1 home win over Peterborough after 31 minutes following a collision with Posh goalkeeper Joe Lewis.
The referee for tomorrow's match is Mark Brown from Hull and he will be assisted down the lines by Simon Clayton from Newton Aycliffe in County Durham and Jeremy Simpson from Carnforth. Meanwhile the fourth official is Peter Wright from Southport.