Sean Clohessy admits the players let everyone down and described Orient’s defeat at Hartlepool as unacceptable.

The O’s are clinging onto a place in the top-seven of League Two but have taken just 11 points from their last 12 matches.

Orient’s latest setback came in a 3-1 defeat to the Monkey Hangers on Sunday and defender Clohessy was damning in his assessment of the team after their fifth defeat of the campaign.

Clohessy said: “It isn’t about personal performances. Obviously you want to play your best all the time but to come here and lose 3-1 is not acceptable.

“We prepared right for it and have been up here for a couple of days. The gaffer has given us the best preparation and we’ve let everyone down. We had a great following. It’s a long way to come and it’s just truly not acceptable.”

Head coach Ian Hendon has come under increased scrutiny with some fans calling for his dismissal but Clohessy insists the blame lies firmly with the players rather than the management team.

He said: “We’ve obviously got to regroup. The boys have to shoulder all the blame for today. There is nothing the management could have done any differently.

“As I’ve said we’ve been up here for a couple of days and prepared the best. We were given down time.

“We trained hard on everything we usually do. It’s just the boys’ fault. There’s nothing else that can be said.”

The O’s are under pressure to turn their league form around quickly and face a critical week ahead.

This starts with a home game against struggling York City on Saturday followed by a trip to leaders Plymouth on Tuesday night.

The Orient vice-captain said: “We need to now regroup. Every Saturday is a big game now but this Saturday and Tuesday become massive games.

“We need to get back on a winning roll. We need to start getting a couple of back-to-back wins to creep up because anyone can beat each other in this league.

“You would have thought a lot of teams would have made us favourite here and we’ve come away with a 3-1 loss. We need to start getting that confidence back and start grinding out results if that’s what we have to do.”