Ross Embleton does not 'run in fear' of more experienced managers

This weekend sees his Leyton Orient side come up against Grimsby Town, who are two games into the tenure of Ian Holloway, who has taken both Blackpool and Crystal Palace into the Premier League in his career.

Holloway was managing in the Championship with Queens Park Rangers as recently as 2018, and Embleton says he will be a difficult proposition to face, particularly in his own first game in permanent charge of the O’s.

He said: “Most managers that I come up against every week have got more experience than me but I don’t run in fear of that. I think it’s important to try and test yourself against the very best people out there and the very best people at your level.

“Ian Holloway has got an unbelievable amount of experience, he’s managed at the very best clubs so I’m excited about the challenge and the opportunity to go up against someone like that but ultimately it’s not about me, it’s not about Ian Holloway, it’s about Leyton Orient trying to get a win against Grimsby.”

The reverse fixture of this encounter was Orient record their biggest win of the season so far, a 4-0 success at Blundell Park.

Dan Happe, Josh Coulson, Josh Wright and James Alabi were all on target that day, the final game of Embleton’s first interim stint of the season, but with the O’s in a current poor patch, he feels it’s more about just getting a result than repeating the free-scoring performance of the past.

He said: “It probably wasn’t our best performance, even though it was our biggest victory of the season, it probably wasn’t the best we played but sometimes it turns out that way. I think we took our opportunities on the day and we came away with a deserved win but as I said with four goals, it was one of those days where everything certainly went in our favour.

“It’s important we try to get back to that run of form we were in at that time more than anything else and start to put some positive performances and results on the board.”