Matt Porter has spoken enthusiastically about the candidates that have been interviewed to replace departing interim manager Jobi McAnuff.

Speaking on the Orient Outlook Podcast, the O’s director said that he was confident of finding a candidate that could take Orient to “the next level”.

“We’ve been going through a process since the end of the season and I must say the calibre of person that we have spoken to is phenomenal,” Porter said.

“The shortlist itself is the best shortlist that I have worked across. We have made some good appointments in the past that I have been pleased to be a part of.

“Often in those environments there wasn’t four, five or six exceptional candidates and what I would say at the moment is we have that resource available to us in terms of the calibre of person that wants to come work for us.

“What we haven’t done is sat there and waited for people to write in. This is people approaching us saying we know you’re a good club and we feel we can get you promoted.

“The interviews that we have conducted so far have been outstanding. We are very confident that we will make an appointment that will take this club to the next level.”

On the pitch things could look different as well, with Myles Judd, Josh Coulson, Jamie Turley, Joe Widdowson, Brendon Shabani, James Dayton, Jordan Maguire-Drew, Louis Dennis and Lee Angol all departing at the end of last season.

Lawrence Vigouroux, Dan Happe, Jayden Sweeney, Craig Clay, James Brophy, Conor Wilkinson and Danny Johnson have been made offers to stay but are yet to make decisions on their future.

“People might be happy to play for us but they might be even happier to play for somebody else,” said Porter. “It might be a higher division, might be better money or might just be closer to home. There is lots of reasons why players move on.”