RUSSELL SLADE is determined that it will be the O's fans leaving Dagenham & Redbridge's Victoria Road with a spring in their step following Saturday's npower League 1 derby duel.
The O's take on Dagenham for the first ever time in a League match and a near sell-out crowd is expected.
Orient's 1,200 allocation was snapped up by early this week and Slade wants to reward those supporters with a performance.
"It's a first on Saturday - a local derby with Dagenham and it's a game we're all looking forward to," he said
"It's exciting times for both sets of fans, the area, both football clubs and for the players because the stadium at Dagenham will be pretty much full.
"I think it's fantastic that we've sold out of our allocation and so many of our fans are going. That's terrific and we know it's going to be a good atmosphere.
"We just want our fans to go home with the bigger smiles on their faces."
Orient go into the match having won their last two matches, scoring five and conceding none in the process.
Slade is delighted with that, but it keen to point out that his team need to keep on improving.
He continued: "I really like it when we keep a clean sheet. I love to win 1-0, the fact we're won 3-0 and 2-0 is most satisfying and we just have to keep building on that.
"When we got the win against Exeter we knew it wasn't too far away, but we didn't want the players to get too anxious and have to wait another week or two before it came.
"We now have to build on that, but it seems to have given everyone a lift and I think we took that into Brighton in the week.
"So things are good at the minute, but we have to be mindful that it's only a start."
Dagenham are known for their direct approach and Slade says his team is ready to combat that.
He has also warned his players to expect a tough test from the home side, who will still be on a high following their promotion from League 2 last term.
"It's two contrasting styles of play so that adds to the spice of it all," he said.
"No disrespect to Dagenham, they play a certain style and that's very different to Brighton, Exeter and ourselves.
"They've been very successful and John Still has done a terrific job to get them through the leagues and into League 1.
"They deserve every credit for what they've done. They'll be confident - it's a home game for them and they'll want to be doing particularly well at home, because that could be crucial to where they finish."
Slade is resigned to losing Jonathan Téhoué and Charlie Daniels for this fixture with ankle and hamstring complaints respectively.
He also revealed that a number of other players in his squad are feeling the effects of the midweek win at Brighton.
He concluded: "Jon's very much struggling and Charlie's still out. Aaron Brown and Dean Cox haven't trained either today, but Forbesy should be ok.
"We do have one or two doubts - it's not easy playing on Wednesday then Saturday, and I'm sure Dagenham are aware that they've had a day extra to recover from their exertions at Charlton."
This interview appeared first as a TV feature on Orient Player. Click here to subscribe or for more info on our premium web service - available from less than 10p per day!
