Richie Wellens considered resting Leyton Orient hat-trick hero Dom Ballard

Manager Richie Wellens admitted he was close to resting hat-trick hero Dom Ballard for Leyton Orient’s 4-2 triumph over AFC Wimbledon at the Cherry Red Records Stadium.

Ballard gave the visitors the lead early in the first half before Junior Nkeng scored twice to put the Dons 2-1 up at the break.

However, 20-year-old Ballard scored twice, either side of a James Morris finish, to complete his hat-trick and take his League One goal tally for the season to 21.

Wellens believes Ballard is getting better and better as the campaign progresses.

“I was so close to resting him, but I didn’t want to take him out,” he said. “He is such a good player, so I had a conversation with him at the hotel.

“I said I wanted him for 60 to 70 minutes if he was going to start, I wanted him full throttle.

“If not, I would have left him out, and he would have come on for the last 20 minutes to half an hour.

“I’m pleased he started. What a player, he is getting better all the time. He is getting better, he deserved his hat-trick.

“Now I feel like I have weapons where I can make changes.

“Too many times this season, we have had players who are not available or who are not quite in form.

“When you feel like you have weapons as a manager, it changes your thinking. Now I can start thinking positively.”

The result is a huge boost to Orient’s hopes of staying in League One, leaving the O’s four points clear of the relegation zone.

Eighteen-year-old winger Nkeng was unlucky to be on the losing side after scoring the first two senior goals of his career.

AFC Wimbledon manager Johnnie Jackson believes the forward was a threat throughout.

“At the end of a game of football, you tend to remember what has just happened and obviously in the second half they were the better side and well on top,” he added.

“But I don’t think it is an exaggeration to say we could have gone into half-time 3-1 up or 4-1 up.

“In which case it is a different game, but we didn’t. We were a little bit wasteful in that period, we got two but we should have had more.

“They have come out in the second half and pretty much done the same to us.

“He [Junior Nkeng] did great, credit to him. He gets his start and he was lively and a threat to them, especially in the first half.

“He took his goals really well. Good for him, it is just a shame it doesn’t result in us getting anything from the game.”