Andy Hessenthaler said Nigel Atangana would be a big miss if his injury he picked up against Stevenage leaves him out of the squad for a few weeks.

Atangana was victim to a late challenge from Fraser Franks in the seventh minute as Orient went onto win 3-0 courtesy of a Gavin Massey double and a Dean Cox header.

The Frenchmen has been on fine form since the start of the season after fighting for a place in Hessenthaler’s starting XI but came off in the 51st minute.

“I hope he is not out for too long, the thing is, it is an impact injury, there is no twist or anything like that,” he said.

“So it is going to be badly bruised and swollen, so Saturday will come too quick for him but I like to think he will not be out for too long if he does miss the game at the weekend.”

Orient got their first three points of the season against The Boro and will look to carry that momentum onto Saturday, August 20 as they travel to Grimsby.

Hessenthaler was also delighted with the reaction from his players after their 1-0 defeat to Newport last weekend.

He added: “You always ask your team to respond to a defeat and we certainly did that tonight, as I say we started the game pretty slow which was a little bit disappointing.

“But they will be saying if they (Stevenage) took their early chances the game could have been different, but they didn’t.

“We grew into the game and started creating our own chances and fortunately for us we took them.”

Cox’s header in the 37th minute was a surprise to the fans and the management team as it has been around five years since he scored his last one but Hessenthaler was thrilled for his player.

“I did ask him if he had ever scored one but he wasn’t sure, but he obviously did,” said Hessenthaler.

“It was a great ball from Harry Cornick and I didn’t expect Cox to get on the end of that I expected somebody else. But he had good contact on it and it has gone in.”

Orient’s game at Blundell Park will kick off at 3pm.