ORIENT are certainly doing their best to not quash the new found optimism at Brisbane Road.

Well into into pre-season and we have an decent record and some good performances behind us.

Coaches and fans alike tell us that winning friendlies isn’t important.

Well, it is.

Winning and scoring goals breeds confidence. Can you imagine the atmosphere around the club if we had lost all our games so far?

As a fan, I try not to read too much into pre-season match That is after last season when we drubbed Newcastle 6-1, and then had a truly woeful League One campaign.

But from what I’ve seen so far, Russell Slade seems to have assembled a good squad this time around.

Despite other people’s pessimism, I have believed from day one that getting Alex Revell will turn out to be a good piece of business by us.

He’s scored goals, but his off the ball work is what impressed me the most.

He looks like a fighter, but also has that key to unlock the defence with that killer touch or finish, as he showed with his goal against St Albans, last week.

The evergreen Scott McGleish has also got off to a good start, hitting a brilliant hat trick in that game.

I expect him to be only be a bit-part player next year, but he definitely has something to offer us at this level. With a relatively young squad, his experience will be vital.

Kenny Gillett is another player that you would think wouldn’t be in the manager’s thinking, as we already have two left backs at the club.

But he has been at Joma Challenge Cup in Devon, and I am starting to believe that Slade will push Charlie Daniels to left midfield. That would very interesting indeed.