With two weeks left of the transfer window, Leyton Orient boss Steve Davis is still on the lookout for potential new additions and says one or two players may be allowed to leave Brisbane Road in search of regular first team football.

The O’s head coach has kept the same squad for each of Orient’s opening three league games and, while admitting changes will come towards the end of the month, he isn’t prepared to rule out the possibility of players departing E10 between now and the end of August.

However, given that the former Crewe Alexandra manager only arrived in east London just over a month ago, he doesn’t feel he has had sufficient chance to run his eye over his squad – also questioning the merits of sending players out to potentially fellow full time clubs.

“There are a few that we’ve already talked about that we can get out now if we wanted to,” Davis said when asked if he will consider sending some of his younger fringe players out on loan before the end of August.

“But I don’t really want to come into a football club and loan them straight out. I want to be able to work with them and, if they go to a full-time club, they’re going to be training there more often than they would if they were here.”

Several of Orient’s talented group of young players, including Myles Judd and on-loan Norwich City forward Tristan Abrahams, have yet to make the final match-day 16 let alone taste National League action so far this term.

And Davis believes working in close quarters with them on the training ground may be more beneficial for both him and his fringe players, as opposed to farming them out on loan to a fellow National League side or to a team a couple of divisions below.

He said: “I’d like to do the work on the training ground with them, to improve them and help them, and I’ve told them that.

“I think it’s more valuable for them to be training with me and the rest of the squad than it is to be away weeks and training somewhere else and playing somewhere else.”

It is a dilemma he must address before the end of the window as to whether he maintains the competition and strength in depth which will be vital as the season progresses, or lets his young players leave temporarily in search of regular football.

Davis, though, will have perhaps his best chance yet to catch a glimpse of some of those players knocking on the first team door when the O’s play a behind closed doors friendly later this week.

“The games are important, I understand that, and we’ve got a game Wednesday behind closed doors to give those players a game, so we’ll try and top them up as much as we can.

“But there will be two or three at least that I would think go out, maybe to the league below, and get some experience which will be great for them.”

One area where Davis feels he is already well equipped is in goal with young stoppers Charlie Grainger and Sam Sargeant being ably complemented by the club’s goalkeeping coach Dean Brill.

While Brill’s primary duties will be on the coaching side of things, Davis is ready to call upon the former Luton Town and Inverness Caledonian Thistle goalkeeper if necessary this season.

But at this present moment it is Grainger’s spot to lose having begun the season as Davis’ preferred choice, earning praise for his performances along the way, but the 52-year-old head coach insists that having Sargeant pushing as hard as he is cannot be a bad thing.

“He has been good,” Davis said when asked about the performances of goalkeeper Charlie Grainger. “He knows he could have done better on Tuesday – he anticipated it [Solihull’s goal] a little bit early – but you can see what he can do.

“He came and got crosses, he was brave, and his kicking is tremendous. He kicks it three quarters of the length of the pitch and that’s a great asset to get up the pitch quickly.

“He’s a ‘keeper that can do that off the ground and out of his hands and he made a terrific save for the offside goal.”

Grainger would not have been pleased to have conceded against Solihull in the week, not least because it came at his near post in a game in which he had very little to do for long spells.

But his initial save for Maidstone’s offside goal on Saturday – palming away Joe Pigott’s initial strike – and the manner of his clean sheet was the perfect reaction, and a timely confidence boost for the Orient defence as a whole.

After all, having a squad in which everyone is competing hard for minutes is a welcome headache for Davis so early in the season.

He said: “Charlie’s fine and Sam [Sargeant] is the same. I’m happy to put either of those ‘keepers in, it’s just that I felt that Charlie had just got the edge at the start of the season. He deserves to keep his place but that doesn’t mean to say that Sam’s not pushing him.

“He’s pushing him hard and obviously I’ve got Dean [Brill] as well who can play in goal and give us his experience.

“I’ve got three good options, with an experienced coach who can come in and play when the kids are injured or after a loss of form and we’ve got Sam pushing Charlie so it’s a really good situation.”