Orient's Wellens the best manager in League One, says Barry-Murphy

Cardiff City will come up against the best manager in League One when they face Leyton Orient on Saturday, according to Bluebirds boss Brian Barry-Murphy.

Cardiff will be looking to bounce back from only their second defeat of the season, having lost 1-0 at home to lowly Burton Albion on Tuesday to miss the chance to return to the top of the table.

Orient manager Richie Wellens guided the club to promotion from League Two in 2023 and led them to the League One play-off final last season.

"I think he's been the best manager in League One by a distance from my point of view, pound for pound, what he's done," said Barry-Murphy.

"And if you look at what he did last season, where they were in the table early on and looked at where they ended, I think there's a lesson for us all there in terms of how to be consistent in your approach and focus on improving all the time."

Orient have had a mixed start to the season, losing five of their 10 games to sit 17th in the League One table.

Cardiff are fourth following their relegation from the Championship last season, and Barry-Murphy expects Saturday's visitors to the Cardiff City Stadium to pose his team various challenges.

"I think they're a very adaptable team and all the teams that he [Wellens] has coached and managed have a really clear identity in terms of being really flexible," Barry-Murphy said.

"So if you watch their games recently, they can build up from the back, really progressive players as good as anyone, and in certain games they can be really direct and get behind the opponents with exceptional movement in a forward line - a very dangerous team.

"But I think once we've acknowledged that and made ourselves aware of it, then the focus does have to come back to what we can do in a home game, where we're looking to produce a performance that is, again, improving and trying to give us the best chance to win."