Richie Wellens believes Leyton Orient can beat anyone in League One

Leyton Orient boss Richie Wellens declared his side can beat any team in League One after edging out high-flying Lincoln at the Betwright Stadium.

Idris El Mizouni’s 62nd-minute header sealed victory for the O’s, who bounced back from last week’s defeat at Rotherham to see off an Imps side who were seeking a fifth win in six games.

The visitors had the better of the early exchanges in a tepid first half and should have been in front after just two minutes when Ben House hit the bar from close range.

Conor McGrandles then blasted narrowly over for the Imps as Orient struggled to get out of their own half.

Orient were much improved after half-time and almost grabbed the lead through Aaron Connolly who exchanged passes with Dom Ballard only to be denied by a smart save by George Wickens.

Republic of Ireland international Connolly’s run down the Lincoln left led to the winning goal as his low cross was only cleared as far as Michael Craig who delivered the ball onto the head of the unmarked El Mizouni to score his third goal of the season.

Wellens, who guided Orient to the play-off final at Wembley last season after embarking on a strong run of form in the second half of the season,  praised his side’s display as they moved towards mid-table after a mixed run of results to start the campaign.

He said: “I thought every single long ball we dealt with. They could have scored early when they hit the bar but they really test you and are a hard team to play against but I thought after that early chance they never looked like scoring.

“I feel better after today’s win but for us it is about consistency and when we get that we can start to look upwards.

“We can beat anyone in this league, no team has gone to Cardiff, I know we got beaten in the game 4-3, but we had so many chances and one-on-ones and dominated the ball. That showed me at this level we are as good as anyone. But we have to keep consistent because football can bite you on the backside if you take your eye off the ball.”

Lincoln boss Michael Skubala had no complaints with the result and despite his side remaining in the top-six he admitted his side didn’t create enough after making a bright start.

He said: “Technically I didn’t think we were on it today but we created some big chances and if we score then it is a different game. After 20 minutes they got on top of us and we didn’t have enough quality to get out.

“We have got to find a way to create for the whole game but they are a good team but we need to score to win games.”