Leyton Orient striker Jay Simpson expressed his relief at finally opening his goalscoring account for the O’s in their 2-0 win at Dagenham & Redbridge on Tuesday night.

The 25-year-old netted one in each half to secure Orient’s passage into the third round of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy at the expense of the Daggers, and the former Arsenal youngster felt he grew in confidence after putting the O’s in front after just five minutes.

“As a striker whenever you score you are going to have a bit more confidence and I was enjoying the game,” said Simpson.

“Scoring early does give you a boost and you want to keep shooting because you feel like you will get a few more goals.

“I am delighted to finally get off the mark and glad to get two and hopefully it will be the start of a few more.

“I was disappointed to not get the hat-trick but at least I was getting quite a few chances in the game so I am happy about that. It wasn’t a bad return.”

Simpson was part of a front three on the night alongside Darius Henderson and Shaun Batt, and it was clear to see the former Hull City front man relished the system.

“I liked the 4-3-3. I thought it allowed us to attack more and it wasn’t so direct,” he added.

“In the first half we had good movement between the front three. Shaun has caused them a lot of problems and it gives us options to rotate as well and we kept changing over.”

But more than anything Simpson was pleased the O’s got back to winning ways after two disappointing home defeats to Rochdale and Swindon Town.

“It was very important to get a win,” he remarked. “We have had a few bad results and the boys were hurting after the weekend so it’s good to get a win.

“When you come to the cup games and play against a team in the division below you are expected to win but sometimes it’s a tougher game.”