Leyton Orient boss Russell Slade has confirmed first choice keeper Jamie Jones could be out for up to three months with a back injury.

The O's shot stopper did not feature during their dramatic 2-1 win at Gillingham this afternoon and the manager revealed a fracture in his back will keep him out until well into the new year. 

Slade, who gave a league debut to Jake Larkins, said: "As you know Jamie Jones is missing now. He's got a hairline fracture in his back which could possibly keep him out for three months so we've got a problem there. All the problems seem to have come at once, over a period where I can do very little about it until the window opens."

Orient stayed top of League 1 after a superb fightback at Gillingham. The O's trailed for 70 minutes of the match until a Marvin Bartley header and 90th minute goal from substitute Yohann Lasimant snatched the points. 

Slade said:"I thought we showed great character in the second period. We got off to the worst possible start. We didn't clear a ball and then it goes out for a corner and we've not done our jobs properly which is unlike us. 

"It gave Gillingham something to hang on to and get their teeth into and they looked the brightest early on. But we gradually got into the game and I thought we played some really good football between the two boxes."

Slade added: "It [half-time message] was to just keep playing and keep believing. That was very important and we kept moving the ball until we could find the likes of Coxy [Dean], Mo [Odubajo] and Lis [Kevin Lisbie] in little pockets so we could play our football and cause problems. 

"That was important and we didn't want to get into a situation where we were picking the ball up at the back, on a difficult surface for both teams, launching it and getting direct. We didn't want that and needed to move the ball which is exactly what we did. I thought we created opportunities in the second period."