Orient boss Wellens 'full of admiration' for Brady's work at Cobblers

Orient won the League Two title in the same season that Brady’s Northampton secured automatic promotion, and both clubs enjoyed an excellent first campaign back in League One, finishing 11th and 14th respectively.

"I think Jon has done a terrific job there,” said Wellens. “They only finished one or two places below us last season and they had an outstanding season. We know that because we know how difficult it is to get promoted and do well in League One.

"They aren’t a Wrexham or a Stockport where they come up and are expected to go again and have the finances and the budget which allows them to go again. It’s similar to us after we got promoted. We finished 11th, I think they were 13th or 14th.

"They lost a couple of their best players and had to rebuild but I’m full of admiration for the job Jon has done there and his teams are always hard to to play against so it’s a tough game for us.

"Obviously it’s one we want to win but after the weekend I wish Jon all the best because I really like him as a guy.”

On the game itself, Wellens added: "We can’t wait to get back out there. We haven’t enjoyed these international breaks and we want to get back on the bike and climb the league. Our defensive stats are really good but we need to improve our attacking stats with more goals and more passes into the penalty box.”