Richie Wellens praised his “exceptional” players after Leyton Orient earned a 2-0 home win against Cambridge.
The visitors started the game at the top of League One but were swept aside by their hosts and seldom given an opportunity to showcase their best form.
Seeking their first win of the season since returning to the third tier, Orient were given a confidence booster when 19-year-old Watford loanee Shaq Forde gave them a first-half lead.
Theo Archibald doubled the advantage after the interval to earn Orient a dominant and convincing victory, whilst The U’s dropped down to ninth.
“The players have taken on a lot of information this week and were exceptional this afternoon,” Wellens said.
“We’ve had people that haven’t been up to speed and when you sign players later on like we have, they need more time so we took a couple out.
“It’s my job to make difficult decisions and I thought with Michael Morrison, who I played with – no disrespect because he’s a brilliant player – but we knew against him and (Ryan) Bennett, we should go with speed against them and it worked.
“I am really pleased for Shaq Forde. I watched him all week and I love working with young players who are athletic, exuberant and want to do well.
“He trained well all week and every time he finished the ball in training it flew into the net. I just thought we can’t leave him out.
“Theo Archibald was excellent again and deserved his goal. We’ve asked him to play at wing-back, which isn’t ideal for him or me, but his application has earned him that goal.”
Cambridge boss Mark Bonner had no complaints about the outcome.
“We weren’t very good and they were excellent causing us problems all afternoon,” he admitted.
“It’s not a wake-up call because we don’t think we’re the best team in the league so it’s a wake-up call for others and not us.
“The goals we conceded were very poor and when the second went in we looked like a team that couldn’t wait to finish the game.
“The last five minutes we had a great chance and if we score it might be the Alamo, if we score, but we didn’t take it and didn’t deserve it and they were much better than us so deserved the points.
“It’s back to work again for us because that was a long way short of where we have been in the opening games of the season.
“First half we were okay but they played the perfect game, outrun us and we turned the ball over far too quickly so we never had any control of the game.”
Hemp ruled out of England squad after knee surgery
Lauren Hemp has been ruled out of England's upcoming friendlies after Manchester City confirmed the forward had surgery on a knee injury.
Hemp has missed City's last two matches, including their 2-0 defeat to Chelsea in the Women's Super League on Saturday.
Sarina Wiegman confirmed the surgery was not related to an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, and the club have also not confirmed how long she will be out.
The 24-year-old recently became the youngest player in WSL history to reach 50 goals and also leads the way for assists (five) and chances created (26) in the competition this season.
Overall this term, she has scored two goals and registered seven assists in all competitions, including setting up three goals in City's 4-0 win over Tottenham, her last appearance.
Manchester United's Ella Toone is also unavailable to Wiegman this international break due to a calf injury.
Her absence in their victory over Leicester City on Sunday ended a run of 96 consecutive league starts.
Niamh Charles, Lauren James and Lucy Parker are also out through injury, with the Chelsea pair having failed to recover from problems that kept them out of the previous international break.
It means there are first international call-ups for Laura Blindkilde Brown and Ruby Mace, while Gabby George is named for the first time since November 2022.
England take on the United States at Wembley on November 30 in the first of their two friendlies, before facing Switzerland three days later.
England squad in full:
Mary Earps (Paris Saint-Germain), Hannah Hampton (Chelsea), Anna Moorhouse (Orlando Pride), Mille Bright (Chelsea), Lucy Bronze (Chelsea), Jess Carter (Gotham), Gabby George (Manchester United), Alex Greenwood (Manchester City), Maya le Tissier (Manchester United), Esme Morgan (Washington Spirit), Millie Turner (Manchester United), Leah Williamson (Arsenal), Laura Blindkilde Brown (Manchester City), Grace Clinton (Manchester United), Fran Kirby (Brighton), Jess Park (Manchester City), Georgia Stanway (Bayern Munich), Keira Walsh (Barcelona), Ruby Mace (Leicester City), Aggie Beever-Jones (Chelsea), Chloe Kelly (Manchester City), Beth Mead (Arsenal), Jess Naz (Tottenham), Alessia Russo (Arsenal)
Doncic backs Mbappe to turn fortunes around at Real Madrid
NBA superstar Luka Doncic has backed Kylian Mbappe to "figure it out" after his underwhelming start to life at Real Madrid.
Mbappe has scored eight goals in 16 games for Madrid in all competitions since joining as a free agent following the expiration of his Paris Saint-Germain contract.
He has gone four matches without a goal – a run that includes losses to Barcelona and Milan – and has been left out of France's latest squad.
However, Dallas Mavericks guard Doncic – a Real Madrid supporter due to his previous ties with the sports club – can see Mbappe turning things around.
"Obviously [their season] could be better," Doncic told Managing Madrid after the Mavericks' win over the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday.
"But when you get a guy like Mbappe, it takes some time to get used to it. We'll figure it out."
Mbappe has scored six goals in 11 LaLiga appearances for Madrid but has underperformed his season's expected goals (xG) total by 2.04.
The forward is averaging a goal every 166 minutes in all competitions this term, compared to one every 88 minutes for PSG in his last of seven seasons in Paris.
Madrid thrashed Osasuna 4-0 last time out in the league to return to winning ways but still trail leaders Barcelona by six points.
Asked about his connections with Madrid, former Los Blancos basketball player Doncic said: "I follow Real Madrid every time.
"I grew up there. They taught me everything, so it's a part of my life. You can call it a secondary home.
"I learned a lot of stuff there and, especially, they gave me a way to be here right now [in Dallas]. I always appreciate that 100%."
Madrid return to action after the international break with a trip to Leganes on Sunday.
Real Madrid 0-4 Barcelona: Guijarro brace sets visitors up for Clasico glory
Patri Guijarro's first-half brace set Barcelona on their way to a thumping 4-0 win over rivals Real Madrid in Liga F on Saturday.
Claudia Pina and Alexia Putellas were also on target as Barcelona continued their perfect start to the season, extending their lead at the top of the table.
The visitors dominated from the off, as Guijarro broke the deadlock inside the fourth minute, tapping in from Putellas' flick-on from a corner.
Cata Coll was forced into a big save to deny Alba Redondo an equaliser shortly after, but Madrid's hope was soon dented as Guijarro picked out the bottom corner with a superb long-range strike for her second.
Pina strengthened their lead six minutes before the break, clinically slotting past Misa with her low strike.
Putellas added some more gloss to the scoreline with four minutes remaining of normal time, beating the Madrid keeper with a lovely dink to bring up her 199th goal for the club.
Barcelona have won all 10 of their games, and now sit eight points clear of Madrid, who suffered their first league defeat of the campaign.
Data Debrief: Total dominance
Madrid will have felt fairly confident coming into this game after a strong start to their season, but they once again failed to find a way past their Clasico rival.
Los Blancos have lost every single game they have played against Barcelona in all competitions, with this their 15th such meeting.
Barcelona smothered their attack early on, restricting their hosts to just one shot in the first half, while they had 10.
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