CHARLIE DANIELS says he's feeling ready to show League 1 what he can do again after making his comeback from a knee injury this week.
The 23-year-old left back suffered damage to his knee ligaments right at the start of pre-season, but returned to first team action with a half-hour run out against Charlton last week before adding to that with a reserve match against Reading.
Orient travel to Southampton on Saturday looking to pick up their first points of the season and former Spurs man Daniels is hoping to be part of that.
"The knee's feeling good," he said. "It's a bit awkward for me at the minute because I'm trying to get match fit, but I was pleased to get on for the last half hour against Charlton, even if it didn't go too well.
"I'm building it up with the reserve game in the week and I think I'm ready for a start on Saturday. Whether I get a full game or not I don't know, but 60 or 70 minutes would be good.
"It'll be a good one to play in as it'll be a challenge against a top side. I know their right winger's very good and they're a team full of good players because they're looking to compete at the top of the table, so it'll be a good game."
Daniels describes the timing of the injury as frustrating but is determined to return strongly.
"It was very frustrating to get injured right at the start of pre-season," he continued. "It means you have to play catch-up and I'm probably two or three weeks behind everyone else.
"I'm looking to bounce back in the next couple of weeks because it's a case of building up your match fitness rather than base fitness. You can be fit in terms of running, but match fitness is different and that's what I need now."
Orient have tasted defeat in both of their League 1 games so far this season, but Daniels insists the mood in the camp is a confident one ahead of the trip to the pre-season title favourites.
He added: "We're confident that we can get a result on Saturday. We'll go there with a good mindset because we felt we were unfortunate to lose to Charlton.
"We gave away three sloppy goals, but our general play was good and we're looking to build on that.
"We've had a full week on the training ground, giving us the chance to do some defensive and shape work, and we're looking forward to the game this weekend."
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!
