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" We didn't perform, we found ourselves wanting near enough all across the park, players went missing, were hiding, didn't stand up and be brave and be stand up and be counted. That is something that I am very annoyed about and I have told the players that. I can put up with anything, but the team that I put out and the team that Dennis (Booth) and myself put out, we want honesty, we want determination, we want a collectiveness and that went missing.
" I thought that to be fair we started the game very, very well again and missed two absolute of sitters of chances. If they go in then it is different but they didn't go in, although that doesn't account then for the fact that we never got near to Orient for another 60-odd minutes and in the end we got beat convincingly.
" You can call it what you want but as individuals we didn't win our battles, we didn't press the ball as individuals, we didn't get to any second balls. We didn't press the ball as a unit and then ultimately we didn't get anywhere near to them as a team. So across the board it is very disappointing and I have told the players what I think, it is frank, it has been honest, we are an hour on aren't we from the end of the game or whatever it is and everyone has had their say. I have had most of my say and it is like I said to the players, I take the blame for that, ultimately I will take the blame for that from the fans. "
" I will get criticised for that and I will take the blame, but sometimes players have to stand up, be counted, be honest and wonder if they gave everything that they have got. They have to ask themselves if they are as good as they have just shown out there, could they have given a little bit more as an individual. The answer for me as a group of players, it is the first time that I will have to say that they could have given a hell of a lot more for me tonight.
" The form is quite an easy one to explain, there is an edginess at home at the minute, there is a fear at the minute of not performing in front of our own fans and the fans are getting a bit edgy too. The criticism is hurting some of the players, the young players that we have got really for the first time in their careers are experiencing this sort of thing.
" I think that our supporters have been terrific and obviously they have seen what we did last season and their expectancy levels are high and we haven't produced for them in the last few games at home. That spreads to the pitch but the players have to deal with it, I have to deal with lots of things, I have had to deal with lots and lots of injuries.
" I have had to deal with the fact that from the back six down we really couldn't change anything, we have got different things upfront but my back six and the keeper, I can't do anything about that. I have to deal with it, players have to find a way of dealing with the pressure and the edginess that is created here at the moment. "
" David Raven is a better player than that tonight, David Raven is a better player than he has shown tonight. I am right to have a go at David Raven, I have criticised him in the dressing-room and I am critical of his performance but he is a better player than that. Then you wonder why he can't perform like we know he can and think that it is because he has not got a left foot but he has got a super right foot. There is not a problem with the right foot and we are actually making excuses for people.
" I am not making excuses for my part of the performance and I don't want the players to either. Certain players haven't produced tonight and it has been a poor performance. As a staff I look at myself, I look at my staff, what can I do to make things better, how can I change things around.
" The players have got to ask themselves if they can play better that, can they play a little bit more clinical than that in front of goal, can they defend with a bit more determination at the back. Really having a left foot is only when you have got the ball, it doesn't stop you defending the thing and for that I have been critical of the players tonight. They know that and I am not telling you any different than I have told them.
" I won't use injuries as an excuse because there are a group of players there, professional players, that should be able to go and produce a better performance than what they have produced tonight. The last question was asking them who wants to play on Saturday and if anybody didn't want to play on Saturday. "
" Have they got the determination and bottle and spirit to come out here and really take the game to Scunthorpe and produce a performance that our fans will be pleased with rather than be critical of. The answer was that everybody obviously wants to play and that is a good sign that we have got to dust ourselves down. We have got Thursday and Friday and then we are back at it on Saturday, no hiding place, I can't hide in there, the players can't hide out on the pitch. Nobody can spare themselves from the big task that it is now to produce a performance here at the moment.
" I won't have the day off tomorrow but the players need a rest, they have had loads and loads of games so they will need to dust themselves down and get their preparation work for Thursday. We will come in on Thursday and we will work at things on Thursday towards Saturday but like I said to everybody, I will work as hard as I can to make sure that this club goes further forward. Tonight we are like a drunken man aren't we, two steps forward and three steps back tonight. That was probably four steps back so we have to do something about it.
" I will look at defensive cover when I dust myself down as well because I am still a little bit excited from the game tonight in a different sort of way. I have still not really got my head around it and got myself thinking straight. I will have a look at that tomorrow, I will sit in the office, I will sit in on my own tomorrow, I will lock the door tomorrow, I don't want to speak to many people tomorrow.
" I will do my own thing and I want my staff to have time off as well because they have been travelling up and down the country for the last six or seven weeks. It has been hard work on them but I am going to sit myself down, have a little think about it and get some peace in there. Hopefully by Thursday we will have some solutions or some answers and some thoughts on how we can get a result on Saturday. "
" He (Gavin Rothery) has done really well in the reserve games and that, so especially in that area now we probably need a bit of cover there. We have only got Thir (Paul Thirlwell) fit and we have only got Kav (Graham Kavanagh) fit, Lummy (Chris Lumsdon) is still not there and it is a position where we thought that we could bring him in and give him an opportunity because he has worked very, very hard.
" We are just going to look at him (Peter Murphy) on Thursday and hopefully, he is a tough guy is Peter. He is a tough lad, but again with all the games coming up and the importance of the games we can't just throw him in and run the risk of him tearing a groin. It is a difficult one but we just have to patient and see how he is on Thursday.
" Cleve (Cleveland Taylor) has been unbelievable in his spirit and his determination has been terrific. Tonight I just felt that it has got to him a little bit today, he has not done the things that he has been doing. He has been terrific on the road and tonight I just thought that he is doing things that he has showed me that he is better than that.
" We popped Joe (Anyinsah) out on the right-hand side to give us a bit more firepower down the middle. We are 2-0 down so I need my top goalscorer on, Danny has missed a chance, Gareth (Taylor) has missed a chance. Everybody seems to be missing chances at the minute but we were trying to make it better. We sacrificed Cleve at half-time and it was one of those things. "
" He (Scott Dobie) doesn't have to jog my memory. We know what Scott is and we were having a bit of a laugh about him on Saturday missing his chance. That goal will do him the world of good, he is a really sensitive lad is Dobes, he wears his heart on his sleeve, he is gong to give everything for the club. He has come on and he has given an honest performance there and I am dead pleased that he has got his goal, and that will lift his spirits as well.
" The other results are very small comfort at the moment but I suppose that in the cold light of day it is over a period of 46 games. It is small comfort to me at the minute, I am disappointed with the performance, I really am disappointed. I will lock myself away on my own for a bit and have a bit of a sulk and a good think about it. Do all the things that I need to do, but I just want a little bit of time to think about this one tonight, it has upset me a little bit.
" It is a double thing, we talk about honesty and respect between myself and the players and vice-versa. Maybe tonight if they actually sit down and think about it, could they have helped the situation a little bit more and I would hope that the answer is yes. Because if it is a no then some of the players aren't as good as we thought they were.
" They are a good group though and we will work hard, we needn't dwell on the disappointment. I hope that you can tell by the way that I am speaking that I am not going to accept that and that I am disappointed with it all. As a group collectively though, and with the fans as well as everybody else, we have got to be all together and take the game to Scunthorpe on Saturday and try to get a result."
Meanwhile before the game Abbott had commented :
" They (Leyton Orient) are fighting for their lives aren't they and you would expect them to come out of the traps and have a right go at us. I think that they will be concerned that we are on a good run as well now, if you actually turn it around then we haven't lost in three again now.
" So that is pretty decent because everyone was telling us that we hadn't won in three so I am going to tell them that we haven't lost in three. So it is testimony to the boys that are under that little bit of pressure that has been added from everywhere that they have gone and performed, and to be fair the performances have been pretty good. "