Justin Edinburgh praised Leyton Orient’s character after the O’s snatched a well-earned point against Salford City at the weekend.

After an even first half, Orient were on the back foot within seconds of the restart when Salford’s Rory Gaffney opened the scoring from close range.

The O’s should have levelled almost instantly, but in-form Josh Koroma could only blaze over the bar from the penalty spot after meeting Jobi McAnuff’s pull-back.

After Dean Brill pulled off a superb save to deny Gaffney, it looked like it was going to be one of those days for the O’s when firstly, Macauley Bonne scooped over from close range and substitute Charlie Lee’s deflected header struck the post, before Salford somehow manged to clear the resultant scramble.

But Orient would deservedly leave the Peninsula Stadium with a point when Craig Clay’s strike was deflected past Chris Neal by Liam Hogan and it could have been all three at the death, but James Dayton’s effort sailed over the cross bar.

Nonetheless, Edinburgh was delighted with the character that his players showed to pick up a point against Salford, who are one of the favourites to win the National League this season.

Speaking to Leyton Orient’s website after the game, Edinburgh said: “I thought it was one where we had to dig deep. We had lots of opportunities but showed great strength, resilience and character to come away with a well-earned point.

“We probably thought, at times, that it was drifting away from us. But testament to the players as they never gave in and they got themselves back into the game and got a point. If we hadn’t, it would have been a real bitter disappointment because the performance was very good today.

“It was even in the first 10/15 minutes but credit to them, they are a good side with good players. They pushed us and really forced us back but we defended and blocked things that we are accustomed to now and reliant on doing. But I thought once we overcame that, we finished the first half very strong. But we didn’t pick that up second half and I thought we were caught on the back foot and it was a very poor goal to give away.”

It was a perhaps a sign of Orient’s strength in depth that Edinburgh decided to leave the likes of vice-captain Lee, Dayton and James Brophy all on the bench for Saturday’s game, meanwhile experienced striker David Mooney as well as last season’s Young Player-of-the-Year Dan Happe were not included in the match-day squad.

Lee, Dayton and particularly Brophy went on to have an impact for the O’s during the second half as Orient created a host of chances as they tried to get back into the game.

Edinburgh praised the trio’s impact after the full-time whistle and admitted that choosing the starting line-up prior to kick off was one of the toughest decisions in his managerial career.

He said: “The last couple of days have been tough for me to make the decisions that I’ve had to do today to pick the team. Possibly the toughest in my managerial career, in terms of picking a first team. Every player throughout first season has been first class. But what we asked is when these other players or the game changers are called upon, they need to have an impact and they certainly did that.”