Richie Wellens was full of praise for Ethan Galbraith after his two goals set Leyton Orient on their way to a 4-1 thumping of Stockport County in League One.

Previously-unbeaten County were behind 2-0 at the break, thanks to Galbraith’s brace in the space of five minutes.

And after Dan Agyei and Sean Clare completed their convincing win, Wellens hailed his midfielder’s contribution.

“We know how good Ethan is, he can play wherever he wants, he’s got the ability,” said the O's boss.

“When he’s at this level, he has to do two or three things. He has to win promotion with us to get to the next level or he has to get goals and assists.

“When you watch him, you think ‘he’s a player’, but when you start getting numbers too, people get onto that and then someone will come in for him.

"I’m not trying to sell him here but he’s unbelievable. He is an unbelievable talent – energy, sharpness, touch, control, skill.

"If he can start adding goals to his game, like I said, he can play anywhere."

Overall the boss played down the win slightly, saying it was down on previous efforts.

“I don’t think it was a special performance," he said. "We played some good stuff but we played better football against Bolton and against Birmingham.

“First and foremost we’re coming to a tough team here. Our preparation for this game was really, really good and then they changed the system.

“The players had to take a little bit of information in during the first half and I thought we handled it really well because these have not changed shape for a long time.

"The fact they changed their shape, I think, is a compliment.”

Galbraith got the ball rolling on 11 minutes, his finish from Tom James’ cross taking a deflection on its way past Corey Addai.

Five minutes later it was 2-0. Charlie Kelman’s shot was saved by Addai but Galbraith reacted quickest to slot in the loose ball.

County showed signs of life late in the half with Fraser Horsfall heading wide at a corner and Louie Barry shooting narrowly wide after cutting in from the left.

Tayo Adaramola’s fierce effort early in the second half was saved by visiting keeper Zach Hemming.

Moments later, the O’s almost had a third when Kelman got in behind the backline, his finish rolling agonisingly past the far post.

County gave themselves hope on 50 minutes when Tanto Olaofe rolled an inviting ball across the face of goal for Jack Diamond to finish.

But Orient restored their two-goal lead seven minutes later through Agyei’s crisp finish on the turn.

Substitute Jayden Fevrier came close to a second for Stockport but his shot crashed back off the post.

And, with nine minutes remaining, Clare rolled in from a tight angle to complete County’s miserable afternoon.

Stockport boss Dave Challinor challenged his players to show character on the training ground when they get back to business.

"Next week can’t come quick enough," he said. "Monday can’t come quick enough. The players’ reactions on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday will tell me everything I need to know about them.

 

“What you can’t do is come out of that early period two goals behind, because then you’re chasing the game and you could leave yourself exposed.

“I thought we started the second half really, really well, but then we shot ourselves in the foot.

"From Orient’s perspective they’ll be happy with the goals but from our perspective, they’re shocking."