Soccer
Richie Wellens hails impact of his bench as Leyton Orient beat Oxford in cup
Richie Wellens hailed the impact of his bench as Leyton Orient opened their season with a 2-0 win at home to Oxford in the Carabao Cup.
Both goals came in the final five minutes, Wellens’ son Charlie setting up each with crosses, the first just a minute after coming on.
That was turned in by fellow substitute Demetri Mitchell, with Idris El Mizouni applying the second finish after 88 minutes.
“They’ve done it all pre-season,” said boss Wellens. “People look at me sometimes and think I’m moaning, but if you don’t have the tools, you can’t win.
“Too many times last year, I looked at the bench and knew I needed to change things, just for more energy more than anything, but I just didn’t have it.
“It was a more than satisfying day from a new group against what for me is a very, very good League One team, a side that came close to staying in the Championship last year.
“We limited them to next to nothing and frustrated them. We were very effective out of possession and tactically very good.”
Aaron Ramsey, the Oxford boss, was frustrated with the result, but could still see positives in the performance.
He said: “It’s never nice losing but if I take the game as a whole, we created some really good opportunities and just needed that little bit more calmness or a clean final pass or shot.
“The last five or six weeks have been really positive and I saw a lot of positivity (here).”
