Richie Wellens hails impact of Leyton Orient substitutes against Peterborough

Leyton Orient head coach Richie Wellens praised his bench as they defeated Peterborough 2-1.

Substitutes Tyreeq Bakinson and Theo Archibald combined for what proved to be the winner for the east London side, who earned their first back-to-back victories this season.

A goal from Jimmy-Jay Morgan made it an uncomfortable ending for Orient, who took the lead via Jack Simpson, but Wellens knew that while his ability to rotate is limited, the strength in reserve has proven vital.

He said: “For me, our subs have had a real impact for us in the last two games.

“We’re not in a position to rotate. I wanted to take Dom Ballard off five to 10 minutes early today, in our position we have to pick the best team.

“It was a brilliant goal by Tyreeq, with the midfielder running and a brilliant finish.

“So I’m really pleased with the three points, but I’m disappointed with losing a goal from a set-play.

“We had a lot of chances and we could have scored a lot more goals. For spells, I was happy to give up possession.

“I wasn’t happy with the first 10 minutes of the second half because they pushed our wingers back and we couldn’t get out.

“For the last half-hour of the game we should have scored more goals.”

Captain Simpson gave Orient a much-needed boost two minutes before the break when he prodded in a cross from Charlie Wellens past goalkeeper Alex Bass.

The goal lifted the hosts and they could have doubled their lead right on the interval when Demetri Mitchell found himself in space after a Dom Ballard run, but his connection was poor.

As Peterborough continued to splutter, the day looked set to belong to Orient when Archibald ran from his own half to square to fellow substitute Bakinson, who slotted home with nine minutes left.

A Morgan header in the 84th minute gave a lifeline to Peterborough, but the hosts held on.

Despite the late lifeline, the visitors failed to capitalise, which left visiting manager Luke Williams a disappointed figure.

He said: “I thought we played particularly well in the first half, but we didn’t make enough of the final third entries that we had, and the actions around the opposition box.

“At the end of the first half, we conceded which was very disappointing.

“We started to lose our composure, and we were chasing the game a lot, which was understandable, but it wasn’t a good strategy for us.

“They hit us on the break and we didn’t block the shot, which was very disappointing. We were pushing a lot for an equaliser.

“When we got to the final third there was not enough quality in the crossing of the ball.”