LEYTON Orient assistant coach Danny Senda paid tribute to skipper Jobi McAnuff for his role in a 2-0 victory over Southend United which saw the O’s get back to winning ways.

Orient had lost four of their previous five league matches but were never extended to claim the points against a Southend side who, having shown good recent form, are now once again propping up the Football League.

The 39-year-old McAnuff played a key part in the victory, opening the scoring with a 53rd-minute free-kick from the edge of the box and later picking out striker Conor Wilkinson, who chipped the ball over the advancing keeper to record his 10th goal of the campaign and seal the points.

“He is the heartbeat of our team, he delivers in the big moments for us as a team,” Senda said of McAnuff.

Senda took charge of the O’s in the absence of head coach Ross Embleton who was self-isolating after a family member tested positive for coronavirus.

“It’s a wonderful way to end 2020,” Senda continued. “It’s no secret we all recognised before the game that we needed to put a performance together like we did today.

“The fact we have been able to do that today knowing how special this game is for the fans, I really do hope they can see where we are trying to take this group of players.

“We spoke about consistency after the game on Boxing Day and we felt from the first minute to the last minute tonight, we delivered that.

“We put a lot of responsibility on their shoulders tonight in the midfield to win the battle and they achieved that.

“It was a derby game and sometimes you need to step back from technical tactics and go back to basics and keep running and the players did that.”