'New' Orient squad like 'starting afresh' - O'Neill
Ollie O'Neill scored in Leyton Orient's League One play-off semi-final victory over Stockport County before the O's lost to Charlton Athletic in the final
- Published
More than six months have passed since a Macaulay Gillesphey free-kick sent Charlton Athletic up to the Championship and consigned Leyton Orient to another season in League One.
After a summer of big change at Brisbane Road, only four of the starting XI from the play-off final at Wembley remain at the club, and the O's have made a mixed start to their campaign in the third tier.
Ollie O'Neill is one of those who stayed. The attacking midfielder has made 13 appearances this season, scoring one goal, with Richie Wellens' side currently 16th in the table with 21 points.
Despite winning just six of their 17 games so far, O'Neill does not believe the squad has suffered a hangover from the play-off final due to the high turnover of players.
"It's more or less a new squad so you have the ability to start [a]fresh," he told BBC Radio London.
"There's been frustrations because at times we can look like a very good team. I think it's fair to say there's been teething issues and it's taken a while."
Aaron Connolly has scored eight goals in all competitions since moving to Brisbane Road from Millwall in the summer
The O's conflicting fortunes can clearly be seen in the goals for and against columns of the table.
No side has scored more than their 25 goals in League One (level with Cardiff City, Huddersfield Town, Barnsley and Wycombe Wanderers), but their 29 conceded is also a league high.
"At home recently the situation has definitely improved - it's four wins, three draws and just two defeats - but just two wins on the road in the league and the last one was way back in September. And both those victories came up against teams at the wrong end of the table – Port Vale and Plymouth Argyle," BBC Radio London's Leyton Orient reporter Dave Victor said.
"It is a brand new squad and Ritchie Wellens is trying to find out how to get the best out of this squad. I think it's up front where things are going so well, not least with Aaron Connolly – eight for the season."
'Last year's FA Cup run had magical moments'
The O's reached the FA Cup fourth round last season, when they were beaten by eventual losing finalists Manchester City
The O's face a trip to Burton Albion on Saturday, before hosting Plymouth Argyle in the Vertu Trophy and then travelling to Salford City in the FA Cup second round.
Last November, a dramatic FA Cup second-round win over Oldham Athletic after extra time, in which on-loan goalkeeper Josh Keeley scored a 99th-minute equaliser, kick-started Orient's season.
They came into that game while in the relegation zone, but went on a phenomenal run to finish the season sixth and beat Stockport County in the play-off semi-finals on their way to Wembley, as well as making it to the FA Cup fourth round where they were knocked out by Manchester City.
"I think people forget because of the last four or five months of last season and the ending, but there were some dark periods in September, October, November," O'Neill said.
"It's incredible how tight the table is. Realistically, with the way the table is at the minute, if you won Saturday – Tuesday – Saturday, you'd probably jump a massive amount of places in the table.
"The cup run last year had some magical moments, and more or less every game we played in it was extra time and penalties – classic, classic, classic."