Leyton Orient v Doncaster Rovers

LEYTON ORIENT

 - V - 

DONCASTER ROVERS

A tiny, almost insignificant benefit of being relegated is the way you come across old foes and are reminded of great or not so great times in the past.

We all know how football has a knack for producing stories and for me, one of the most satisfying stories about the Rovers involves the O's as co-conspirators.  In the 1997/98 season no Rovers fan needs telling how awful we were.  The O's were the club that made the most hay out of this awfulness.  They notched 12 goals in our fixtures that season while conceding only once.  The 8:0 defeat we suffered at Brisbane Road was arguably the lowest of that season of lows. 

Scroll on six seasons and this fixture, Leyton Orient away looked like making for a tough-looking opening day on Rovers' return to the football league.  The 3:1 victory for the mighty hoops was backed up in January by a 5:0 win at Belle-Vue.  This just goes to show that in football, karma can come and bite you on the arse!

LEYTON ORIENT

It’s unbelievable. Training’s different class at the moment and everyone’s on fire. - Nathan Clarke

Clarke - Sounding confident

Leyton Orient lost their first 3 league 1 matches of this season meaning that I had an eye on this one as an away-win.  So when researching whether training was the only reason Clarke should feel optimistic, I was somewhat disappointed to find that early season woes look like they have been dispelled and the O's are on a four-match unbeaten run.  Good job I did my research before making my guess educated prediction based on the facts for the Donny Prediction League.

The manager, Russell Slade however clearly sees a tough task ahead.     

They want to play out from the back and get on the ball, but they can be more direct if necessary. 

Is that comment a polite way of saying that of late, Rovers' have either hoofed it or faffed about with it?  I'll leave you guys to decide.

Looking at the good run the O's are putting together, that 4:1 victory against Yeovil is the stand-out result.  They attacked the Glovers mercilessly during that match and were genuinely unlucky to only score 4.

Watching that game and the highlights from the other two fixtures either side of it, I see the fruits of what Clarke is finding so satisfying in training.  Crosses and set-pieces provide the O's major threat.  Expect big clearances to be flicked on to the likes of Kevin Lisbie  and Lee Cook and dangerous crosses that Ryan Brunt will be trying to feed on.  The good news about that of course is that Donny probably have the best equipped defence in the league for dealing with this type of threat.

Counter-attacking could be the way against the O's.  When the balls is moved quickly forward via strings of fast passes, the defence does look all at sea.  Cotterill and Bennett, if they a up for it could prove decisive players tomorrow.  I was also not so convinced by the Orient midfield as Brentford looked able to win balls in the middle all too easily.

DONCASTER ROVERS

It’s a tough place to go but we’ve got to try and make it an easy place to go - Iain Hume.

Hume - Keen

Classic quote - is he taking tips from his manager?  But Micky taking aside, that's a nice interview for Rovers' fans to read.  Hume  sounds to be enjoying himself more and more as he is returning to full fitness.  I've got a good feeling that this guy is going to be a very big player for us this season.

Wednesday evening saw us visiting Norfolk and while I can see how the game frustrated Dean Saunders, (it was a poor goal with Grant Holt picking-pockets as he has done for years),  I was delighted that we obviously gave Norwich a match.  The key point for me?  Shelton Martis not only returning to the side but also playing out of his skin.  It would seem that we do have an alternative at centre-back.  Sure, the million-dollar question is whether he remains fit, but we seem to have matured in terms of not rushing players back into games after injury.  This is currently being demonstrated by the treatment of Billy Paynter, who despite being rumoured not to be too badly injured, has not been risked.  Paynter remains a doubt for tomorrow.

So defensively, things remain very good for the Rovers now we just need to get in tune up front.  Hume suggests that opponents are looking to simply avoid defeat against us and so are content to defend deep.  If opponents would come out and attack more, gaps would be left that our attacking players are capable of exploiting.  The problem is, unless we score, there is no need for our opponents to come out.  In short, we have to crack the puzzle that our opponents defenders set for us, whatever that puzzle may be.

Prediction for tomorrow?  I'm going for an unspectacular, narrow win for the Rovers.  1:0 with Iain Hume the scorer.