Ross Embleton hailed last night’s victory over Mansfield Town as “incredible” after his Leyton Orient side battled back to win 3-2 at Field Mill.

Two Danny Rose penalties in the first half looked to have put Mansfield out of site, but goals from new signings Conor Wilkinson and Lee Angol along with a last-minute winner from Jordan Maguire-Drew completed an incredible turnaround befitting of the team’s grit and determination.

Speaking to the club website after the game, Embleton said: “[It was] incredible. I said a few weeks ago that the Cheltenham game was one to remember and one to go down in history and that will certainly join it in my eyes.

“Towards the end of the first half we all were concerned, I’m sure they [the fans] were and I’m sure everybody in the stands watching us was concerned as to what the second half was going to look like. We felt exactly the same but they backed us, they stayed with us and we gave them that encouragement in the second-half.”

Fouls from Marvin Ekpiteta and Joe Widdowson gave Mansfield their opportunities from the spot in the first half, and although he felt they were both harsh decisions, he bemoaned the fact that his side gave the referee that choice in the first place.

He said: “We highlighted before the game that from our perspective the front players in there were clever. They get their bodies in the way and when I say they go down easy that’s no criticism, they use their bodies well to win free-kicks and fouls and I felt that we were a little bit naïve at times.

“Whether they were penalties or whether they weren’t, it was the fact that we gave an opportunity to give a penalty, so we’ll look back at whether they actually were.

“I was told that Joe Widdowson’s one the guy looked like he was on the way out of the box and managed to get his feet tangled. Clever play to fool the referee, if you like.”

Despite the setbacks in the first half, Orient showed tremendous character to mount their comeback, and Embleton was delighted that they came through their difficult test.

He said: “We knew we were going to come here and it was going to be tough. It’s a good club and they’ve got some very, very good players. It’s a team that went well last year and are obviously going to be competitive again this season so we knew it was going to be tough.

“We set out with a bit of a game plan and I don’t think we executed it early enough in the game in terms of the things that we spoke about, and obviously with the naivety of giving the two penalties away it felt like it was going to be a long night.”

The performances of the players, particularly those that came on as substitutes, could now give Embleton some selection headaches ahead of Saturday’s match against Crawley.

He said: “I’ll try and have a good night’s sleep tonight and then start to worry about those tomorrow! We’ve got a good squad here and unfortunately for Ruel [Sotiriou], a young lad trying to find his way in the game, he’s missed out but he shows a good attitude every time. Tonight it was James Alabi’s turn but it’s something that I’ve got to embrace and something that I’ll be ready to do for the weekend.”