David Mooney insists there is no way Orient should be at the bottom of the league and claims it is up to the players to right the wrongs and drag the club to safety.

The O’s were one of the pre-season favourites for promotion but are 23rd in the table with only 15 games remaining.

Orient have one of the strongest squads in League One, although they have been hit by a series of injuries this season, and the Irish striker is adamant the players have to start showing their ability on a regular basis.

Mooney said: “If you look at our squad there’s no way we should be in the position we are. But that’s the situation we’re in and it’s up to us now to right a few wrongs and drag this club out of it because at the end of the day we’ve got a squad good enough to be competing at the top end of it.”

Mooney celebrated a milestone for the O’s on Saturday after his penalty, in the home win over Oldham Athletic, took him to 50 goals for the club.

The striker said: “I’ve got 50 goals for the club now so that’s a great achievement for myself and I’m obviously delighted with that. The most important thing now is that we stay up.”

He added: “I think I’ve got four now in my last seven games so that’s obviously a good record. I expect to be scoring goals in this side because we’ve got a really good team. If I can stay in the team and keep scoring goals then I’ll be very happy.”

The O’s face a trip to mid-table Walsall this weekend and Mooney is optimistic Orient can build on last weekend’s win.

He said: “We always seem to draw with them so hopefully both teams will be going for the win. I think they’re around the middle but probably not too far away from either end so they’ll be looking for a result. We’re obviously looking for a result so hopefully we can get that.”