ORIENT boss Geraint Williams says defeat to Walsall is a 'wake-up call' that the players must respond to when Oldham visit this Saturday.

The O's 1-0 home defeat to the Saddlers ended a run of three straight wins, which had lifted them away from the drop zone.

It has put the brakes on Orient's escape to safety and means there is extra pressure on the five games games that are to come at the Matchroom Stadium.

Saturday's result made it ten defeats at home this season.

But Williams has only presided over four home games since he arrived, and he has come out on top in two of them.

So the prospect of Oldham and then Leeds coming to Brisbane Road does not seem to unduly disturb him.

He said: "Its got to be a big factor because there's 15 points available and we want as many as we can. I think we've performed quite well in the four home games while I've been here.

"The great thing about football is that we're all back here next Saturday and we've got to start again and do better."

Oldham are chasing a League One promotion play-off place so pose a stiff test, and Williams says Orient are not safe from the drop yet.

"We've had a good run and the Walsall game is a wake-up call to us," he added.

"There's nothing settled. We've got to go back and work hard on the training ground and come back and improve on that performance, because we really should have won against Walsall.

"We've got to dust ourselves down. It [Orient's fate] wasn't going to be decided against Walsall, we weren't going to be safe if we won. It hasn't been too bad for us with the league places.

"But we have to look at ourselves and pick up more points and we've got to do that starting on Saturday."

Orient could have won against mid-table Walsall, but did not capitalise upon long periods of possession and strong play down the flanks.

Williams rued the 'frustrating' performance.

"I'm disappointed we didn't win it, never mind get a point. We started brightly, played some football and mixed it up. We should have worked them harder but our quality wasn't good enough and those are the little things that cost you games. If you're good at one end and sloppy at the other, you lose 1-0 at home.

"We made three or four good chances but we didn't have the shape we've had of late. We pushed on and made it easy for them to defend with long balls and what we should have done was make the pitch big and pass better, which we're all disappointed about."