Richie Wellens felt his Leyton Orient side did enough to earn victory in their 1-1 draw at home to Wigan.

Stephen Humphrys drilled a first-minute penalty against a post for the Latics before on-loan Watford striker Shaq Forde put the hosts in front.

But just before the break Humphrys atoned for his miss when he fired a shot from outside the area low into the corner of the net for his seventh league goal of the season.

That equaliser extended Orient’s winless run in the league to six games, but Wellens said there were “loads of positives” to take from the game.

“I think Wigan are a good team and there are not many better front fours in this division,” he said.

“The game started with a pattern where they didn’t play with a striker and they sucked us into areas to switch the play and get runners into pockets.

“They threatened us a few times, but I thought we threatened them more and could have had a few more goals today.

“Today was a big improvement from Tuesday (a 1-0 home defeat to Lincoln). I enjoyed the game tactically and, when we get the press right, we’re a good team, but when we don’t, it’s the youngness we have where we need to talk more.

“When we got it wrong last year in League Two, we played against teams that didn’t take advantage of it. When you step up a level you’ll play against players who will hurt you.

“Loads of positives today, though, and I was just disappointed we didn’t win the game as I thought we created some good chances and dominated the territory.”

Wigan boss Shaun Maloney said the draw was “probably a fair result”.

He said: “I didn’t think there was much control in the game from either team in either half.

“There were probably more chances in the first half.

“The big positive for us is that we’ve had many games like that this season, such as Stevenage, Burton and Cheltenham, but today we stood up to the long ball and the physicality.

“I spoke to the players afterwards and told them that was the biggest positive. I want us to try and play better with the ball at times and go man for man, but a point was about right for me.

“One defeat in seven is definitely another positive. The goal they scored I didn’t like at all. A long ball forward and they created a two versus two in our box, which I didn’t like at all.

“But overall we saw today a side that are improving.”

Cambridge boss Mark Bonner hit out at the “hopeless goals” his side gave away during Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Northampton.

There was nothing in a goalless first half but United fell apart after the restart when a defensive mix-up allowed Kieron Bowie to break the deadlock.

Sam Hoskins added a swift second, his 10th of the season, and that proved too much for Cambridge to come back from despite Gassan Ahadme scoring late on.

Cambridge have just one win in their last 12 League One games and are now 16th in the table.

“The first half was fine and we chased it well enough at the end but we gave the game away with two hopeless goals in a five-minute spell at the start of the second half,” said Bonner.

“We were OK and had a couple of half decent chances, both teams did, and defensively we were doing OK but it doesn’t matter because we’ve giftwrapped a game that we should never have lost.

“The goal just after half-time is a hopeless goal to give away. We looked vulnerable and they caused us problems when they played forward.

“The goal gives them a leg up and they score another one quickly, they outplay and outrun us in that moment and Hoskins has the quality that we don’t have in that part of the pitch and it becomes a difficult task for us.

“The boys came on from the bench and gave us everything they could to try and help us but we couldn’t find the quality we needed to get an equaliser.

“We turned the ball over too cheaply and we have a lot to do because the result isn’t good enough, our form isn’t good enough and the goals we’re conceding aren’t good enough.”

Having now won back-to-back games, Northampton have leapt up to 15th in League One.

“The second half was much better,” said manager Jon Brady. “We needed to be more purposeful with our forward runs.

“I thought we dominated the ball in the first half and we dominated in terms of chances but I felt we could have played with more purpose and break their back-line a bit more.

“We started to do that and the second goal, where Patrick Brough underlaps, gets to the byline and cuts it back for Sam to score, that’s what we really wanted and we felt we could hurt them in that way.

“We got a bit of fortunate with the first goal when Kieron chases a lost cause and the goalkeeper makes a mess of it, but it was down to Kieron’s persistence and pressure.

“We didn’t finish the game how we wanted to finish it and Cambridge threw caution to the wind but to get three points and to jump up a few places in the table, that’s the most important thing.”

Leyton Orient had to settle for a 1-1 draw with Wigan in a lively encounter at Brisbane Road.

Both sides struck in an end-to-end first half.

Wigan spurned a golden opportunity to take the lead in the opening minute when Orient goalkeeper Sol Brynn brought down Sean Clare in the area.

Stephen Humphrys drilled his spot-kick against an upright and the ball rolled to safety.

The hosts then went ahead after 18 minutes with a sublime strike by Shaq Forde.

The on-loan Watford forward collected a pass from Ruel Sotiriou and sent a right-footed effort high into the corner of the net.

But the visitors were back on level terms in the first minute of added time following a set-piece as Jordan Jones passed to Humphrys, whose drive from outside the box nestled in the corner of the goal.

Orient dictated play after the interval, with Forde and Dan Happe going close, but the Wigan defence, superbly marshalled by Charlie Hughes, proved resilient.

Nathaniel Mendez-Laing inspired Derby to a late 2-1 League One victory at home to Bristol Rovers.

The attacker whipped in a cross which Jack Hunt turned into his own net and then scored a dramatic late winner after former Derby striker Chris Martin had equalised.

Rovers came into the game unbeaten in six matches in all competitions and denied the hosts any clear chances in a scrappy opening 30 minutes.

Joe Wildsmith rescued Derby in the 45th minute when he touched a 20-yard shot from Grant Ward against his right post.

County needed some inspiration and Mendez-Laing delivered in the 66th minute when he surged past Josh Grant and drove in a low cross which Jack Hunt could only divert into his own net.

But Rovers levelled in the 87th minute when Martin headed in an Antony Evans free-kick only for Mendez-Laing to win it three minutes later.

Tyrese Fornah’s cut back from the right found Mendez-Laing, who fired home a low shot from the centre of the box past Matthew Cox.

Goals from Rob Street and Will Goodwin ensured Cheltenham’s improvement under Darrell Clarke continued with a shock 2-0 League One home win over promotion-chasing Oxford.

Both teams had a player sent off, with Street shown a straight red during first-half stoppage time and Ruben Rodrigues dismissed for a second caution after 68 minutes for the visitors.

Second-bottom Cheltenham started strongly, with Street seeing a shot blocked in the opening seconds and Aidan Keena denied by James Beadle’s flying save.

Oxford then threatened, with Goodwin and Curtis Davies kicking efforts away inside the box.

But Cheltenham broke through in the 34th minute when Liam Sercombe’s corner was cleared to Street, who smashed a sweetly-struck effort through a crowd of bodies from 20 yards.

Street then saw red for catching Stephan Negru with an elbow and – with the final touch of the half – Sercombe missed a golden chance to double their lead with the goal gaping.

Rodrigues spurned a similar chance for Oxford seven minutes after the break and Luke Southwood saved well to deny Ciaron Brown before Rodrigues was given his marching orders after a foul on Ben Williams.

Cheltenham made sure of the points when George Lloyd set up Goodwin for his third of the season, spoiling Des Buckingham’s first game in charge of the U’s, who dropped down a place to third as a result.

Max Mata and Dan Udoh helped Shrewsbury return to winning ways after securing a 2-1 home victory over Port Vale.

The visitors had the ball in the back of the net just past the 20-minute mark.

Tom Sang drove in a low cross, which was met by Uche Ikpeazu, who side-footed into the bottom corner, but referee Scott Tallis chalked the goal off for a foul in the area.

Eight minutes later, Shrewsbury broke the deadlock after Jordan Shipley stood up a floated cross to the back post and Mata headed it in low and hard to grab his first goal in blue and amber.

Udoh then drove forward from the halfway line just after the break. The forward got into the box and released a powerful strike which went in via the underside of the bar.

Vale pulled one back just before the hour mark from a free-kick from 25 yards. Sang whipped the ball into the middle of the box and Ben Garrity rose highest to head home.

Vale kept searching for the elusive equaliser but to no avail.

Lewis Wing scored against his former club to hand struggling Reading a vital 2-1 win against Wycombe at Adams Park.

Sam Smith put the visitors ahead in the first half but Killian Phillips equalised almost immediately.

Wing’s deflected effort after 41 minutes won the day for the crisis-hit visitors, ending a run of nine League One matches without a victory.

The Royals lost Southampton loanee Dom Ballard to injury after 29 minutes, with the attacker carried off on a stretcher.

Moments later, Reading scored the opener as Smith got a slight touch on Femi Azeez’s cross to flick the ball past Max Stryjek.

Wycombe equalised on their next attack. David Wheeler touched the ball back to Phillips, who eluded a Reading defender before curling a fine strike past David Button.

But Reading regained the lead when Wing’s shot took a big deflection off defender Ryan Tafazolli.

Wheeler hit the post for Wycombe just after the break but the hosts struggled to create chances thereafter as Reading held on for a first away league win in more than a year.

TJ Eyoma’s struck late to grab his first goal of the season and earn Lincoln a 2-2 draw against Barnsley in manager Michael Skubala’s first home game in charge.

Barry Cotter and John McAtee both scored in the second-half to cancel out Danny Mandroiu’s penalty early on, but Eyoma’s leveller in the 88th minute ensured the spoils were shared.

Lincoln took the lead in the fifth minute when Mandroiu sent Ben Killip the wrong way from the penalty spot after captain Jordan Williams’ clumsy challenge brought down Jack Burroughs in the area.

The hosts came close to doubling their lead in the 18th minute as Jovon Makama capitalised on Mael de Gevigney’s mistimed clearance, but Killip saved well with his feet when one on one.

Barnsley really started to grow into the game thereafter and, although they failed to find a goal in the first-half, they struck twice in the second.

Cotter met McAtee’s cross at the back post in the 68th minute and slotted the ball home to make it two goals in as many games for him.

Confidence was now brimming through the Reds and they took the lead in the 72nd minute, with McAtee scoring from close range from Williams’ cross.

The visitors thought they had done enough to secure all three points, but Eyoma struck two minutes from time after Mandroiu’s corner caused mayhem in the Barnsley area.

Promotion-chasing Peterborough maintained their formidable home form with an emphatic 4-0 win over Dino Maamria’s patched-up Burton in Sky Bet League One.

First-half goals from Joel Randall and Ephron Mason-Clark put the hosts in cruise control, before Cole Stockton’s own goal and a Kwame Poku close range finish completed the rout after the break.

The visitors will be left wondering if this match may have had a different outcome if Stockton’s first-half stoppage time volley had not been headed off the line by Posh defender Josh Knight.

Yet, in truth, this was a richly-deserved victory for Darren Ferguson’s men and the scoreline did not flatter the Scot’s side at all.

Randall opened the scoring in the sixth minute when he coolly side-footed in Peter Kioso’s cross at the far post.

The visitors then survived a decent penalty shout on 19 minutes when Poku was felled by Mark Helm’s clumsy challenge on the byline.

Mason-Clark fired in Posh’s second goal in the 44th minute after Ciaran Gilligan’s slip had allowed Archie Collins to pick him out inside the Burton penalty box.

Albion striker Stockton then scored at the wrong end, turning Poku’s driven cross past his own goalkeeper Max Crocombe just past the hour to make it 3-0.

Ghanaian midfielder Poku finally got the goal his energetic performance deserved when he bundled in Harrison Burrows’ cross from the left in the 66th minute.

The result means Ferguson’s fifth-placed team have dropped just two points from their last six games at London Road.

Out-of sorts Burton, who handed 17-year-old centre-half Will Tamen his league debut, have slipped to 17th in League One.

Northampton secured back-to-back League One wins by edging a tight game 2-1 against Cambridge.

Kieron Bowie gave the Cobblers the lead after a goalless first half before Sam Hoskins scored his 10th of the season just five minutes later, with Gassan Ahadme’s late goal nothing more than a consolation.

Northampton started in the ascendancy and had the better of the early chances with Marc Leonard’s shot beaten away by Jack Stevens before an unmarked Bowie headed wide, but the first half lacked goalmouth action.

The breakthrough arrived four minutes into the second half when a mix-up in the Cambridge defence allowed Bowie to nip between defender and goalkeeper and roll into an unguarded net.

And five minutes later the home side doubled their lead as a wonderful move ended with Hoskins converting Patrick Brough’s low cross via the woodwork.

Cambridge halved the deficit with 13 minutes to play when Thompson spilled a long-range shot and Ahadme tapped in.

But they then lost a man when Paul Digby saw red for two yellow cards in a matter of seconds and that put an end to their hopes of getting anything from the game.

Owen Dale returned to haunt old club Portsmouth as Blackpool ended the south coast side’s club record 27-game unbeaten Sky Bet League One run with a 4-0 win at Fratton Park.

Former Pompey loanee Dale, Jack Beesley , CJ Hamilton and Albie Morgan scored the goals as 10-man Pompey were knocked off the top of the table by Bolton.

The Seasiders took the lead in the ninth minute as Hamilton crossed for the unmarked Dale to find the net.

Pompey should have equalised midway through the first half but new signing Josh Martin could not beat goalkeeper Dan Grimshaw in a one-on-one situation.

Grimshaw then produced a stunning push out from Marvin Ekpiteta’s sliced attempted clearance a few minutes later.

Blackpool made it two 11 minutes into the second half as Karamoko Dembele’s shot was deflected in by Jake Beesley.

Things got worse for Pompey when skipper Joe Morrell received a second yellow card and was sent off in the 64th minute.

Hamilton got a third 16 minutes from time and substitute Morgan sealed the rout with three minutes remaining.

Bolton replaced Portsmouth as Sky Bet League One leaders, with top scorer Dion Charles scoring twice to help thrash struggling Exeter 7-0 at the Toughsheet Community Stadium.

Grecians boss Gary Caldwell went into the contest boosted by backing from club directors and owners, but in-form Wanderers handed the Scot a reality check with an eighth successive win in all competitions – their biggest of the campaign.

Ian Evatt’s side laboured for 34 minutes to break the deadlock against the early-season leaders of the third tier.

But when Jack Iredale headed in from Charles’ cross, the outcome was never in doubt.

Striker Victor Adeboyejo doubled Bolton’s lead before half-time, netting for the first time in two months.

Caldwell used defender Cheick Diabate as a striker but his services may have been better deployed in a more familiar position.

Paris Maghoma made it 3-0 after 55 minutes before Northern Ireland international Charles took over.

His 12th and 13th league goals of the season came 11 minutes apart while substitutes Kyle Dempsey and Dan Nlundulu completed the rout late on.

Goals from Jamie Reid, Ben Thompson and Elliott List earned Stevenage a 3-0 win at Fleetwood.

Reid scored his fifth in his last four games to give the visitors a half-time lead and second-half efforts from Thompson and List helped settle the first ever meeting between the two sides.

Reid hit home a crisp opener in the eighth minute after Carl Piergianni won a header on the edge of the box and Jordan Roberts played the ball across goal.

Fleetwood had half-chances to draw level before the break, but Danny Mayor sent a shot straight at goalkeeper Taye Ashby-Hammond.

Jack Marriott could not capitalise on two chances in quick succession, seeing his first shot blocked and a second effort clear the bar.

In added time at the end of the first half Ashby-Hammond’s miscued punch from a corner found Shaun Rooney, but his wild finish flew yards over.

The hosts showed signs of life early in the second period and Phoenix Patterson crashed an effort against the crossbar.

In the 56th minute Kane Hemmings capitalised on a slip by defender Bosun Lawal to set up Thompson and he netted his first for the club.

Fleetwood pushed forward as they sought a way back into the match, but, with Mayor also hitting the bar late on, it was clear it was not to be their day.

And List completed Stevenage’s impressive victory with a breakaway goal in stoppage time.

Carlisle’s new owners watched on as their team drew 1-1 at home against Charlton.

Castle Sports Group representatives were able to celebrate as Sam Lavelle hauled the hosts level eight minutes after Corey Blackett-Taylor fired the Addicks ahead.

Jordan Gibson went close for Carlisle early on when his shot was smartly saved by Ashley Maynard-Brewer.

The Addicks replied with Scott Fraser forcing home keeper Tomas Holy into an equally impressive stop, before the hosts’ Owen Moxon then fired over after he had met a tidy pass from Gibson.

Carlisle were saved by the woodwork in the 38th minute.

Lloyd Jones played in Blackett-Taylor, but his powerful drive thumped the crossbar.

The Addicks dominated the opening stages of the second period, and they got their reward after 54 minutes when Blackett-Taylor poked home as he darted in to convert Tennai Watson’s low cross.

Blackett-Taylor was denied a second thanks to Holy’s superb save and Carlisle levelled just past the hour-mark when Lavelle drilled home clinically following Jack Armer’s lay-off.

Blackpool forward Jake Daniels has said it was a slap in the face when Jordan Henderson moved to play in Saudi Arabia.

Daniels last year became the first openly gay active British male professional footballer since Justin Fashanu in 1990.

Former Liverpool captain Henderson had been a vocal supporter of the LGBTQ+ community before his decision to join Saudi club Al-Ettifaq from Liverpool in the summer.

Homosexuality is illegal in the Gulf state, leading some to accuse the England midfielder of turning his back on the community.

Speaking to the BBC’s Newsbeat, Daniels said: “He (Henderson) messaged me when I came out. He was backing me and said: ‘We’re proud of what you’ve done.’ And seeing him move to Saudi, it kind of like, slaps me in my face really.

“Obviously it was frustrating. But I guess the money pays well, and money must mean more to people.”

Henderson’s former Liverpool and England team-mate Steven Gerrard is currently his manager in the Saudi Pro League.

Daniels, who made his senior debut for Blackpool in May 2022, said Gerrard had personally reached out out to him following his decision to come out.

He added: “I met him in person and he said: ‘If you ever want to get in contact then message me’. But he moved over (to Saudi Arabia). It was frustrating”

Saudi Arabia is the sole bidder to host the 2034 men’s World Cup, 12 years after Qatar – where homosexuality is also illegal – staged the global tournament.

Daniels said he “wouldn’t feel safe” travelling to such places.

He said: “The World Cup that happened in Qatar, the one that is going to happen in Saudi Arabia, for me if I was there I wouldn’t feel safe, so that’s just putting your football in jeopardy.”

Daniels believes his decision to come out 18 months ago has helped his career.

“It has been crazy since coming out,” he added.

“I didn’t think it would blow up as much as it did. The reception I’ve had, the people I’ve met, it’s been a crazy experience.

“Coming out was the best thing I’ve ever done. I’m playing better now.”