Leyton Orient must replace Theo Archibald, Jordan Graham after Martin Ling comments | OneFootball

A pair of injuries could see Orient make a move for forward replacements this window.

Leyton Orient have built up a head of steam in League One.

The O's are currently sitting just outside the play-off places and have just drawn a mouthwatering tie with Premier League Champions Manchester City in the FA Cup after knocking out Championship side Derby County on penalties.

Injuries are threatening to slow their momentum, however, with key players such as Dan Agyei, Ollie O'Neill, and Dominic Ball all expected to be missing for several weeks.

And while full-back Tom James recently returned to action in Tuesday's cup win over Derby after a prolonged spell on the sidelines, Theo Archibald and Jordan Graham are expected to miss the remainder of the campaign.

Martin Ling has confirmed the severity of Theo Archibald and Jordan Graham injuries

On the Orient Outlook Podcast, Director of Football Ling confirmed many people's worst fears by revealing Archibald and Graham would miss the rest of the season.

He said: “We need forward players, it’s as simple as that. That’s nothing to do with the forward players that we’ve got. We’ve lost Archibald and Graham for the season, and now we’ve got O’Neill out for a period of time, as well as Dan Agyei.”

This comes as a big blow to the O's for not just the present, but also looking to the future. Both Archibald and Graham's contracts expire at the end of the season, and with no guarantees that either will be fully fit at the start of next term, it remains to be seen whether either player's deal will be renewed.

This even further reinforces the need for permanent replacements, as the O's only current out-and-out wingers contracted into the 2025/26 campaign are O'Neill and Diallang Jaiysemi, the latter someone who has only started a single league game this season.

Replacing players of that stature will never be easy, with Graham's years of Championship experience and Archibald's years of consistent performances in the Orient side.

Leyton Orient will have to look for wingers of the future

The O's have a fairly young squad, with an average age of 25.1, and that seems to be a theme with the players brought in under Richie Wellens.

Under Wellens, the club has yet to sign a player aged 30 or above, with a focus on taking a gamble on loan players from bigger clubs and adjusting them to EFL football.

This season's forward areas have already been strengthened temporarily, with the loan signing of Dilan Markanday from Blackburn Rovers for the rest of the season but he will return to his parent club in the summer, which means he is only a short-term fix.

The O's have been running the rule over Ovie Ejaria, an attacking midfielder who can feature on the flanks, but there are no guarantees that they can help the 27-year-old get his career back on track after his disappointing Reading exit.

To replace players with the quality of Graham and Archibald would be a tough task for any side and it feels even more daunting for Orient, who aren't expected to have much budget to spend on transfer fees during this window, but Wellens and Co. must seek to add more wide weapons before the end of the January window to aid their play-off charge.