Matt Harrold is pushing for a place in Leyton Orient’s starting line-up, having impressed during a series of cameo appearances from the bench in recent weeks.

The experienced striker missed the early weeks of the season as he continued his recovery from the hamstring problem which forced him off against Woking back in March.

But Harrold made almost an instant impact on his return to action, scoring against Dover Athletic on Bank Holiday Monday and followed that strike up with another goal, this time against Solihull Moors, just over a week later.

The 34-year-old moved to East London from Crawley Town in August 2017 and endured a stop-start first campaign at the Breyer Group Stadium, scoring just five times in 32 appearances in all competitions.

Harrold got more minutes under his belt earlier this week when he featured for the O’s in a friendly against Cheshunt and assistant coach Ross Embleton says the tall striker is pushing for a place in the O’s starting line-up.

However, the former Crawley Town man may have to bide his time before he gets his opportunity, due to the form of Macauley Bonne and Josh Koroma.

Speaking last week, Embleton said: “I think certainly he (Harrold) is improving. He’s training every day now, as you’d expect now that he’s back in amongst the squad and getting minutes on the pitch.

“It’s tough because is he close to starting a game? I don’t know because the front two have done well. But I think the huge string to Matt’s bow is that he’s not just come on and executed good performances. He’s contributed to goals and scored himself.

“He’s one of our mature players if you like, but he’s come on and shown that maturity when we’re chasing a game or trying to get back into a game or trying to see a game out.

“He’s given us a lot more when he’s come on the pitch, so he’s certainly giving himself a chance of stepping into the team if or when a member of the current front two needs to step out.”