Richie Wellens heaped praise on goalscorer Jamie Donley after Leyton Orient beat lowly Shrewsbury 1-0 to record their fifth successive league victory.
The O’s are closing in on the play-offs having been in the bottom four in League One at the start of December, following a superb run of form that has seen them claim 22 out of the last 24 points up for grabs.
Tottenham loanee Donley scored the goal that earned them their latest success while the Shrews, who arrived at Brisbane Road unbeaten in their last four matches, failed to build on a dismal away record that has seen them prevail just once in the league with three draws.
“I can’t speak highly enough of Jamie, he is a talented player,” Wellens said.
“He’s come into us and he is a talented boy, everyone can see that. When you watch him in training and you see the talent he has, he has every opportunity to be whatever he wants to be.
“We have been good in the last 14 or 15 games and he has been outstanding for us, he is an exceptional player at this level and will go on to bigger and better things.
“I thought the first half was pretty dead but, understandably, both sets of players were tired after the Christmas and New Year period. The schedule we are asked to play is ridiculous. We have probably lost five players in the last seven days due to the schedule.
“I thought that we deserved the win after our second-half performance and could have scored a few more. We dominated in terms of territory against a well-organised and disciplined side.”
Shrewsbury manager Gareth Ainsworth was not down-hearted, despite his team being eight points from safety.
“There are definitely positives despite the defeat,” he said. “I’m really pleased the boys have taken on board what I’ve said and going into the game, we believed we could win which is a massive step for this football club.
“At half-time I was relatively calm to be honest because there wasn’t much in this game at all and Leyton Orient are a really good side.
“We’ve been on this decent unbeaten run over Christmas which is excellent for the boys but there wasn’t much between the two teams, although I think both teams were a bit leggy and we ran out of steam at both ends of the pitch.
“It just didn’t go for us today and that’s football at times but I’m proud of the boys and the fans who were terrific today. The boys are really down and I’m happy about that because we’ve changed the mentality now. They thought we could get something today.”
