ORIENT winger JJ Melligan is hoping he is the one smiling after his friends reunited weekend.

First the former Wolves trainee is relishing the prospect of locking horns with a manager he enjoyed great success under at his previous club Cheltenham, when John Ward brings his high flying Carlisle to Brisbane Road.

Then on Monday Melligan will head back to Whaddon Road for the first time since leaving the Robins in the summer for Orient.

And the winger - who helped lay on both the match-winners in the O's back-to-back victories over Swindon and Millwall to get the east Londoners play-off dreams back on track - is hopeful another couple of victories this weekend could catapult them back into the top six.

He said: "I'm really looking forward to these next couple of games and as a team we go into them with confidence.

"I'm looking forward to seeing John again and hopefully after they beat us 1-0 earlier in the season we can come out on top this time.

"It is not going to be easy though because they are playing well at the moment, but after a couple of good wins ourselves hopefully we can get another one on Saturday."

And reflecting on the Bank Holiday Monday trip to Cheltenham, he added: "It is going to feel strange going back there for the first time.

"I've still got a lot of friends at the club including their manager Keith Downing, who I also played under.

"I had some great times at the club, although I'm not sure what kind of reception I will get on Monday from the fans.

"At the end of the day though I am not really that bothered, because I just want to play my football and hopefully help us win, as a couple of good results this weekend could really put us back into the play-off places."