Leyton Orient Preview

[El Nombre]

Team News

With City already relegated and staring Conference football in the face, they will want to leave on a high with a rare win against struggling Leyton Orient. Manager Chris Brass has already had several changes enforced upon him, as a total of eight players have departed the club this week. Firstly, striker Jon Newby returned to Huddersfield after a barren loan spell with the Minstermen. His absence could pave the way for Andy Bell to return to the fold as a striking partner for Liam George.

To add to this, seven players were released; including former club captain Darren Edmondson, centre-back Chris Smith and first-choice keeper Mark Ovendale, all of whom played in last Saturday's 3-1 defeat at Doncaster. Ovendale will be replaced between the sticks by Chris Porter, who recently agreed to a new one-year contract, and Chris Smith's place may well be taken by Sean Davies, with Richard Hope still suspended. The obvious candidate for the right-back position in Edmondson's absence is youngster Graeme Law.

The four other released players are veteran Mitch Ward, out-of-favour midfielders Christian Fox and Stephen Brackstone, plus the versatile Steven Downes. Another absentee is player-coach Lee Nogan, who suffered a thigh strain in the recent defeat against Yeovil, and with Levent Yalcin struggling with ongoing groin troubles, youth team forward Adam Arthur looks set to retain his place on the bench at the very least.

Possible starting line-up - Porter; Davies, Brass, Wise; Law, Cooper, Wood, Dunning, Merris; Bell, George.

Not unlike City, Leyton Orient find themselves on a dismal winless streak stretching back thirteen games, and require a further point to guarantee safety. To add to their worries, they are down to the bare bones of their squad, with boss Martin Ling having just thirteen fit players in training on Tuesday.

The biggest name casualty is centre-back John Mackie, who faces a race against time to recover from an ankle injury picked up during Saturday's defeat to Boston. Matt Joseph has already been ruled out for the rest of the season with a groin injury, while Ciaran Toner was this week forced to pull out of the Northern Ireland Under-23 squad as he is ill. Goalkeeper Lee Harrison is hoping to return to training on Thursday after illness and a shoulder problem have kept him confined to the treatment room, and Tom Newey is also out of action with an ankle problem.

Striker Chris Tate sustained a hip injury late on against Boston and is rated as 'very doubtful' to be fit to face his hometown club, and with Warren Hunt starting a three-match suspension, Ling's attacking options will be restricted at Bootham Crescent. Although there is a 24-hour recall clause on Simon Downer, who is on loan at Aldershot, a groin injury is also keeping him on the sidelines at the moment. Ling has again drafted scholars Gabriel Zakuani and Brian Saah into his plans - but he will still need three more players to declare themselves fit in order to find a full squad of sixteen.

Possible starting line-up - Morris; Cooper, Mackie, Peters, Lockwood; Purser, Barnard, David Hunt, Warren Hunt; Alexander, Scott.

Form guide

City - Cambridge (a) L 0-2, Bury (h) D 1-1, Cheltenham (h) L 0-2, Yeovil (h) L 1-2, Doncaster (a) L 1-3.

Leyton Orient - Huddersfield (h) D 1-1, Macclesfield (a) L 0-1, Carlisle (h) D 1-1, Rochdale (a) L 0-3, Boston (h) L 1-3.

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