Italian defender Andrea Dossena could make his debut in Saturday’s match at Gillingham after joining the club until the end of the season.

The former Liverpool left-back completed his surprise move to Brisbane Road last week but is short of fitness after not playing competitive football recently. Dossena spent last season at Sunderland where he made 11 appearances for the Premier League club.

But he left the Black Cats this summer and has opted to join Mauro Milanese’s side for the rest of this campaign.

The Orient boss believes the 33-year-old will offer the League One club an attacking threat down the left and enhance his options in defence.

Milanese said: “I think we’ve missed Gary Sawyer all season and we needed to play with Elliot Omozusi on his right foot.

“In my opinion Shane Lowry is a centre-back so I think this signing can provide more solutions.

“He can whip some good balls in from the left and help the team push forward. He has plenty of experience and is a proper left-back which we needed so Omozusi can play on the right and Lowry may get the chance to play left centre-back so I have more options with him.”

He continued: “We will wait for international clearance but I think for Saturday he should be available although we will have to assess the condition of his fitness because it’s a long time since he’s been playing. He must work alone but maybe he can play some part in the game.”

Dossena, who is a former Italian international defender, moved to Liverpool for £7m in 2008. Despite failing to become a regular at Anfield, he enjoyed several unforgettable moments including scoring in Liverpool’s 4-0 Champions League win over Real Madrid and in their league victory at Manchester United. He moved to Napoli in 2010 and had spells with Palermo and Torino before making his return to England.

Dossena is the second Italian signing after striker Gianvito Plasmati joined Orient following this summer’s takeover by Francesco Becchetti.