Leyton Orient’s come-from-behind show ‘a good way to win’ says Richie Wellens

Leyton Orient head coach Richie Wellens said coming from behind to beat Bradford 2-1 in Sky Bet League One was ‘a good way to win’.

Two goals from Dom Ballard turned things around in east London as they fell behind to a Stephen Humphrys goal in the first half.

Wellens was happy with the turnaround and was glad they did not concede any late goals.

He said: “I don’t think we started the game well. We wanted to impact our system and impact it on them and I thought we did, in terms of possession. And played some real good stuff.

“We’ve suffered some late goals recently. And you need to go through them sometimes to learn from it. And I think it was a good way to win today. It will be good for our mentality.”

On Ballard, Wellens added: “I thought he was excellent. He worked hard again. He could have scored more if he was a bit more ruthless in the last 20 minutes, especially with (the) breakaways we created.

“An excellent two goals and where he has come in the space of six months…if he carries on that form, he can be a very top player and reach the top.

“He is not just a poacher. He can run; he can link play. His work rate is excellent. Just a bit more belief at times with his pressing. We are not going to stop pushing him.”

Bradford boss Graham Alexander was happy with his team’s start but disappointed with the finish.

He felt the Bantams missed a golden chance to close the gap on top spot and should have scored more goals in the first half.

Alexander said: “The players understand it was a game we had well in control.”

“We should have been two or three up when they got the equaliser. That was poor from our perspective, how we’ve conceded a free header in the middle of our goal when we’ve got the overload defensively.”

“But I thought the way we started the second half was excellent. We were straight on the front foot again and taking the game forward.”

“But the second goal was the killer blow because it gave them something out of nothing and the opportunity to win three points that probably looked extremely unlikely after half an hour of the game.”

Alexander added: “We were disappointed at half-time that it was 1-1 when it could have been 2-0 or 3-0 and the game’s done.”