Jordan Brown on Leyton Orient’s 2-1 friendly win over Hearts

That is the opinion of Jordan Brown who scored the first goal in a 2-1 success at Tynecastle Park in a pre-season friendly.

The match was played to celebrate both clubs’ contributions to the war effort in the First World War and Brown said the victory and performance added to the occasion.

He said: “It’s a fixture that’s been made for a long time now and it’s one we’ve all been looking forward to.

“It’s a special day and fair play to everyone who has organised the day and we were really proud to be part of it.

“We’ve worked hard this week, the second week of pre-season. We’ve done a lot of fitness work but we’ve done some tactical work as well.

“We’ve prepared for this like it was a league game and I think you could tell by the performances.

“It’s very early days in pre-season but the foundations are there.

“They are a big outfit in Scotland so to come here and put a good performance on is really positive for us.

“We need to build on it and kick on and keep putting these sort of performances in if we’re going to have as big a season as we can.”

Hearts had taken a ninth-minute lead through Liam Boyce before Brown equalised, nodding home following a Jordan Graham corner.

And moments after the second half had begun, Orient having made 10 changes, Diallang Jaiyesimi scored the winner, tapping home a rebound.

Brown was delighted with the goal but could also see things to work on going forward ahead of the first game of the season against Bolton Wanderers.

He said: “I just had to arrive in good time and I knew with [Graham’s] quality, he’d find me. I was quite happy to score.

“To get a goal on this occasion is really special.

“It was a slow start, we didn’t move the ball quick enough and out of possession, we were a yard off them.

“But after the first 10 or 15 minutes, we got to grips with how they were playing.

“Pressing wise we were winning the ball high up the pitch and we were disappointed to come in at 1-1. We should have been four or five up with the chances we had.

“That’s something we need to polish up on in the rest of pre-season.

“I thought we did really well after that set-back and probably deserved more.”

And he also believes he can pinpoint the reason for why the performance looked so much better than in previous years.

“If you look at us now, compared to this stage of last season, we’re a lot fitter as a team,” he said.

“I might be wrong but I don’t think we won a game in the last two pre-seasons. The boss has really pushed us and I think he can bring the best out of me this season.”

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