Ross Embleton was left “frustrated” after Leyton Orient were unable to hang onto their narrow one-goal lead against Macclesfield Town.

James Brophy had given the O’s the lead with 15 minutes to play but the Silkmen struck in injury time when substitute Jacob Blyth fired home.

Success would have recorded back-to-back wins for Orient for the first time since October, and while a draw does not end the current good run of results, the boss rued the way that his side went about the closing stages of the game.

He said: “I’m very frustrated because I think we’ve played well recently and a team have come here today that have been performing recently, the amount of respect they showed us in terms of getting a lot of men behind the ball, trying to stop us from playing.

“I think there was one team out there that were hell-bent on trying to win the game and there was one team out there that were here for a draw, which they got so full credit to them.

“I felt like we almost waited for the equaliser to come. I think we didn’t really show enough initiative to put Macclesfield on the back foot, to really try and force Macclesfield back. I think [we did] across the first half, but I think in the latter stages we looked as if we were content to try and sit back and soak it up rather than be a bit more positive in the way that we manage the game, which we did really well last week.”

The opening goal of the game came with just 15 minutes to go at the end of the finest passing move of the game. After playing it around on the edge of the Macclesfield box, Craig Clay provided the decisive pass for Brophy to latch on and convert, and Embleton was hugely complimentary of the pair for their respective involvement in the goal.

He said: “It was another positive performance by James Brophy at left-back today, albeit we probably couldn’t get him up the pitch as much as we would like to with his strengths going forward that showed when we got him into those areas.

“His runs from a deeper position are a real threat and it was a fantastic pass from Craig Clay. We talk a lot about how we try to break down an opposition’s defence in those deep areas, it was a great pass, a great run and a fantastic finish.”

Fortunately for the O’s, it’s a quick turnaround before their next game, with Mansfield Town visiting East London on Tuesday night.

While the boss accepts that this draw is a set-back, he insists that the players will be ready to face the Stags in what is another vital game at the bottom of League Two.

He said: “It is a setback but if we’re going to look at this from a positive perspective, potentially this might have been a game we’d have lost earlier in the season. There will be people disagreeing with me and they’ve got every right to do so but my job is to give the boys the information that I feel is going to help.

“I don’t think they will take too much picking up. It’s a blow and a kick for us but ultimately it was a game in which we dominated and we have to remember that. We had the better chances although it wasn’t to the level that we’d have hoped.”