Leyton Orient manager Kenny Jackett was full of praise for Ebbsfleet United who made FA Cup tie difficult for his side, but pleased to get the job done.
Aaron Drinan's first-half goal proved to be enough to put Leyton Orient in the hat for the second round of the FA Cup after a narrow 1-0 win over Ebbsfleet at the Breyer Group Stadium.
“I’m pleased to get through, I thought it would be a difficult game I've seen Ebbsfleet, and I thought they would both be good and lift their game,” Jackett said.
“They’ve got quite a bit of experience in their side, the two Martin’s (Lee and Joe), Dominic Poleon and they all did very well and as I said they lifted their game to make it difficult for us.
“We got the first goal in the game which is a key one, but particularly in the second-half, we got ourselves into good positions but couldn’t quite put the ball away. We won the ball back a number of times, but the finishing wasn’t there, and the final past wasn’t there.
“It left it tense until the end. We did have enough in that second-half in and around their box to be a bit more incisive and maybe put the game away.
“It was not easy and I thought it was a potential banana skin tie. I thought the players did well to earn a clean sheet.”
The boss was also full of praise for Aaron Drinan who notched his fourth goal in his last two matches in all competitions.
“He’s a big threat, his pace, his mobility and I think his combination with Harry Smith is a good one at the moment. For Harry, he’ll be a little bit frustrated that he didn’t score, the chances are still coming for him.
“He would have wanted to put the game away in the second-half. For him he has to keep working hard, keep getting the chances, as the opportunities will go in.
“Their is good partnership, we also have good options with Ruel Sotiriou, Paul Smyth and Tyrese Omotoye. It’s a position we’ve got good players in and want to keep those players, keep working with them, and all of them have to keep improving.”
It was a second consecutive clean sheet for the O's as they look to be more solid in defence as well as in attack.
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