Russell Slade has admitted Orient will need to move quickly in the transfer window to strengthen their injury-hit squad as they look to maintain their automatic promotion push.

The O’s already had a very small squad but injuries to key players such as goalkeeper Jamie Jones, top scorer David Mooney and striker Shaun Batt have forced his hand.

Orient were expected to be active in the January window but the recent setbacks to the squad have increased the urgency to bring in new players.

Orient manager Slade said: “I’ve no problem with the fact we’ve had a really good momentum for the whole year. It’s been a fantastic year for us.

“My problem is just now all of a sudden we’ve picked up some injuries to the likes of David Mooney who’s key and scored goals for us and the likes of the goalkeeper. We’re going to have to replace [them].

“There is a little bit of a fund for us to replace players in the window. We need to bring in the right type, which is important because we don’t want any big egos. That’s not going to get us where we need to be. We want good characters that are going to buy into what we’re trying to do and hopefully keep us on the right path.”

Slade continued: “It’s a crystal ball [in terms of the time frame] but we need to work very rapidly and very quickly to steady the ship.

“There’s a big shopping list but it’s important still to bring in the right characters and the right type that we think are going to buy into what we’re trying to do at the football club. That’s the difficult bit you know.”

The latest injury blow came when midfielder Romain Vincelot was forced with a knee problem at half-time during the 1-1 draw at promotion rivals Wolves on Sunday.