Leyton Orient boss Fabio Liverani has called on supporters to keep the faith and belief that they can avoid relegation after their 1-0 defeat at Crawley Town.

The O's hopes of avoiding the drop to League Two suffered a major blow after today's loss at their rivals. Orient remain third bottom and are three points off safety with nine games remaining.

But Liverani retains belief in his side and insists the players need the fans to stick with them if they are to escape relegation.

Liverani said: "At this moment the only thing I ask the supporters is to believe in the players and stay close to us because it's only together we can try to get out of this situation."

Orient created many more opportunities than the hosts but a first-half penalty from Izale McLeod was enough to fire Crawley to a vital win in the battle at the bottom. 

Liverani is adamant the team will not give up despite their latest setback and insists his side deserved more from today's game.

The Italian said: "The supporters can be sure the team will fight until the very last game of the season to avoid relegation.

"If they watched the game today they will see we only conceded one chance from the penalty.

"We created chances to equalise and, even if we didn't play our best game of the season, we still deserved at least a draw so we're definitely not out of the battle at all."