Shaun Derry eager to make sure of no Cambridge United slip-ups against Leyton Orient
U's play host to bottom club
Shaun Derry is anxious to make sure that Cambridge United do not fall victim to the wounded animal that is Sky Bet League Two bottom club Leyton Orient tomorrow (Saturday).
The U’s are 11th in the table, just five points off the play-off places with six matches remaining, and in a buoyant mood after their 2-1 win at Crewe Alexandra last week.
Meanwhile, Orient are bottom of the table, nine points from safety, and have just appointed their fifth manager of the season, former Cambridge United and Histon striker Omer Riza.
Derry has sympathy for the O’s plight this season, and the way that the club has fallen on hard times in recent years, but he is also wary of the threat that they will pose at the Cambs Glass Stadium as they fight for their life to preserve their League Two status.
“I know Omer Riza, he was on my coaching course and I know what characteristics he’s got,” said Derry. “And I know his history with the football club here as well. So, he’s going to want to come and make it a good day for him personally but ultimately for the football club.
“I understand he is their fifth manager of the season. It’s bordering ridiculous, it really is, and I feel for the Leyton Orient fans.
“They are the people who are there through thick and thin, and I was at the play-off final two years ago when they were a penalty kick away from getting into the Championship.
“So their fall from grace has been pretty remarkable and stark, and it’s been upsetting because they are a really good football club with tradition and history.
“Whenever I have come across them either as a manager or played against Leyton Orient, they have always been a football club where you take them seriously, and that’s what I’m going to do..”
He added: “A wounded animal can sometimes come and bite you where it hurts, and we’ve got to make sure we’re not that victim this weekend.
“We have to make sure that we try to make the pain that little bit tougher for them this weekend – but wish them well afterwards.”
