Fleetwood manager Charlie Adam has already targeted an instant return to League One after their relegation was confirmed despite a 1-0 win at Leyton Orient.

Town’s 10 year tenure in the third tier came to an end despite Xavier Simons scoring three minutes into added time to settle the match and give the 133 traveling fans some small consolation on their return to the north-west.

Adam became Fleetwood’s third boss of the season when he took charge in December and he is determined to make sure their stay in League Two is a short one.

“It’s been a tough day for everybody involved at this football club, the directors, the management the players and the supporters,” Adam said.

“That group of players have given us everything since we came in on December 31 and it’s unfortunate that we’ve just come up short. It really is bitterly disappointing for Fleetwood as a club and for the town.

“I thought we were in full control of the game, we were never really under pressure and that’s what you will see from this side next season. They are going to run and fight all the way.

“That performance away from home was very good.

“I can’t thank the supporters enough for coming to support us. They have been with us all season since we came into the building and I’m really gutted for them.

“There is a lot of frustration of why and what but we’ll sit down and address things and we are going to do everything we can to come straight back up. We have the nucleus of a very good squad in League Two because they’ve shown they are good League One players.

“I’m already thinking about next season, what we want, what we need, how we are going to play and what we are going to do.”

Orient boss Richie Wellens said: “I’m very disappointed at the way the season has ended for us. I’m very professional and I want to keep my standards at the same level all the time.

“Twelve months ago, we were playing Crewe Alexandra in League Two to try and win the league and promotion and my mindset is exactly the same today as it was then.

“Today, I thought that in the first half we were good but in the second half we were poor.

“We were too slow at the back, kept passing back to our keeper, didn’t play through lines or play forward and we didn’t counter well and it was all a bit messy. We got what we deserved, so yes I’m very disappointed.

“We need four or five players to come in and make an impact. There are certain players I keep asking them to do the same thing week in and week out but my patience is wearing thin.”

Richie Wellens blamed his side’s lack of experience after his Leyton Orient side, who finished with 10 men, drew 2-2 with Exeter at Brisbane Road.

Orient were holding a comfortable two-goal lead with Ollie O’Neill and substitute George Moncur on the scoresheet.

But the context of the game changed when Brandon Cooper was forced off with injury during the second half leaving Orient, who had already used all their substitutes, to battle out the final 20 minutes a man down.

Orient were then penned in and around their own penalty area and the Grecians finally broke through a resilient rearguard action with a Millenic Alli header before Will Aimson got the final touch to Tommy Carroll’s shot to salvage a point.

“I thought it wasn’t a great game in terms of quality,” said Wellens.

“Both teams gave too many turnovers, especially us. When we go into a 2-0 lead and down to 10 men, it’s a problem. But it should only be a small problem and we just lacked experience.

“The schedule and the amount of extra time we’ve played is hard for everyone and I think every single club have lost a lot more players this season. For us, losing another two players to injury tonight was not ideal. We always wanted to give Dan Agyei half an hour but losing two players made us run the risk with substitutions.

“We’ve got certain players out of contract and some players are not improving, so we’ve got some decisions to make in the summer.

“The game tonight was comfortable for us but the injuries and the lack of bodies we had before tonight was severe. But it’s extreme now, we’ll have a patched-up team for Derby on Saturday.”

Exeter boss Gary Caldwell admitted it was a hard-earned point.

“We had to work extremely hard for the point to come back from behind,” he acknowledged.

“I thought the first half was fairly even. We started the game well but then Orient came back into it. I wanted a bit more intensity and I thought we got that second half.

“The two goals we gave away were extremely poor from our point of view and they didn’t create many chances outside of them.

“Late on I thought we created enough chances to win the game, so it was great fight and spirit from us to keep the unbeaten run going. It’s another point on the board but we wanted more so we now need to look at the remaining three games to see what we can take out of them.

“We put a lot of balls into their box and it was a backheel I think from our centre-half Will Aimson for the equaliser from a brilliant short corner, but at that moment we were creating lots of opportunities.

“But to be 2-0 down and come back, I’m delighted.”

Boss Matt Taylor revealed he was left out of pocket after watching his Bristol Rovers side collect all three points with a 1-0 victory at play-off hopefuls Leyton Orient.

Chris Martin recorded his 15th goal of the season when a first-half set-piece from skipper Antony Evans eluded the home defence and the unmarked Martin claimed the faintest of touches before the ball nestled in the far corner of the net.

Rovers found themselves reduced to 10-men after 82 minutes when James Wilson was dismissed for an off-the-ball incident with Brandon Cooper, but they emerged with their goal intact after soaking up relentless second-half pressure.

“This game has cost me five hundred quid for the clean sheet and five hundred for the set-piece goal,” Taylor said.

“I’m having to bribe players as we’re going to Cheltenham races in a few weeks, so £1000 is a lot of money and you can buy a lot of nappies for that but it was more than worth it!

“I thought it was a high-quality game of football in the first half. Orient are a really strong team and we know they have a fluid rhythm about them but I liked our structure.

“They started the second half really brightly and we changed our shape and got more of a foothold in the game, and I didn’t think our goalkeeper was overworked. But the unexpected happened and we lost a player for the last 15 minutes of the game.

“We then had to withstand the pressure with backs against the wall defending and we rode our luck at times, but again Jed (Ward) has only really had to make a couple of saves.”

Orient boss Richie Wellens felt his side deserved more from the match.

“It was a smash and grab,” he said.

“We conceded three shots on our goal and they scored from one of them. It was a poor goal from us to give away. A sloppy free-kick and a cheap set play but the delivery was very good and (Chris) Martin does what he does best, which is to get across people in the box.

“Second half, I can’t even remember them being in our box or in our half at times. We had 18 corners and started the game OK with opportunities to take people on but just looked just a bit leggy.

“It was a disappointing day in terms of results this afternoon but another really solid performance. We’ve lost two games when we’ve played midweek and the opposition haven’t. It’s not an excuse but we did look tired and hence why I need to make changes.”

Richie Wellens heaped praise on his Leyton Orient squad after a 1-0 home win against Blackpool.

The victory allowed Orient to leapfrog their opponents and move into eighth position in Sky Bet League One, although they remain five points adrift of a play-off place.

Ollie O’Neill, who scored in the win at Oxford on Saturday, was again on target when he struck in the second half to record his third goal for the club since signing from Fulham in January.

The goal was sufficient to earn the London outfit their seventh win in their last 10 matches.

“We had a brilliant win in terms of we beat Oxford on Saturday by playing really good football and moving the ball smoothly and rotation,” said Wellens.

“Tonight wasn’t about that, credit to Blackpool because they stopped us playing as they were well set-up defensively.

“So we then decided to miss midfield and pick up second balls. We knew that was the way to try and win the game.

“I thought the best player on the pitch was Ruel Sotiriou, although there were a lot of good performances from elsewhere. Ruel set the tempo for everything we did.”

Recent signing O’Neill also attracted individual praise from his manager.

“Sometimes recruitment is really hard and a player can look brilliant with attributes, but (with) Ollie we had a real look and straight away we knew he was strong.

“He doesn’t look like he’s running quick, but then you look at defenders chasing him and they’re not catching him.

“He has two good feet, he scored with his right foot (on) Saturday and he scored with his left today so I’m delighted.”

Blackpool boss Neil Critchley admitted his side cannot afford to slip up in their bid to reach the play-offs after slipping down to ninth after the defeat.

“I thought it was a tight game with very little between both teams,” Critchley said.

“It was always likely to be settled decided by a moment of quality or a mistake and unfortunately it was ourselves who made that mistake and they capitalised, and that was the difference.

“Neither goalkeeper has really had anything to do and even through Orient had territory, they didn’t really cause us many problems.

“They are a really hard team to play against here. They don’t concede many goals and we huffed and puffed when we went 1-0 down, but missing Jordan Rhodes and Shane Lavery was obviously difficult and overall we didn’t do enough.

“I said to the players can we try and scrap and get a 1-0 win in these type of games or worst case dig it out and get a 0-0 to earn a point.

“Nothing is decided yet. We’re still in there, but we can’t have too many nights like this and afford to have games where we don’t pick up points.”

Leyton Orient manager Richie Wellens only had one gripe after his side stretched their unbeaten run to eight games with a 1-0 success at struggling Port Vale.

Captain Idris El Mizouni piled on the agony for managerless Vale – whose defeat dropped them into the relegation zone – with the game’s only goal after 60 minutes.

Orient’s latest win pushed the Londoners to within seven points of the League One play-offs.

“We should have walked away winning that game (by) four or five,” said Wellens after serving the second of a three-match touchline ban.

“But there was only one team in it for the majority of the game.

“Their keeper Connor Ripley was the best player on the pitch. He was exceptional but we have got to be taking those chances.”

Ripley produced a succession of outstanding stops in each half, with Ruel Sotiriou suffering more than most.

On his team’s current run of form, Wellens added: “Since the middle of December we have been on an unbelievable run.

“We just keep going and concentrate on ourselves. If we do the basics right, we have got good players.

“We are getting to that stage where we are probably going to be safe. And that was our first thought from where we have come from.

“In the coming weeks we will be going to win every single game. We will evaluate as each game ticks by what we need to do.

“It is a privilege to work with these young players. The biggest thing is they are improving and it is great to watch them grow and learn.”

Vale sacked Andy Crosby on Monday, putting academy trio Will Ryder, Matt Done and Danny Lloyd in temporary charge.

The club will appoint a permanent successor to Crosby while director of football Dave Flitcroft was the subject of chants calling for his resignation at the final whistle.

“We will do the best we can to continue to fight and try to get some points on the board,” said Ryder.

“When I move back into my role in the academy and the next management team come in, they are going to need everybody pulling together.

“That’s our job to try and galvanise that. Are the players behind playing for the club? A million per cent. They are hurting in the changing room.

“It is now an opportunity to get together for the rest of the week to commit to a game plan for Stevenage on Saturday.

“Full credit to everyone for getting on with it and being professional.

“Have we got the result we wanted? No. But they were committed and gave it a good go. And we were still in the game at the end.”

Leyton Orient boss Richie Wellens was satisfied with his side’s 0-0 draw against Wycombe.

Although the O’s recorded back-to-back clean sheets in the league for the first time since August, they were unable to find a way past Chairboys keeper Max Stryjek even with the seven minutes of added time caused when a linesman sustained an injury in the first-half and swapped roles with the fourth official .

Stryjek pulled off a string of fine saves, including two from piledrivers from full-back Tom James as Orient, despite dominating play in the second half, were unable to find a way past the former Poland youth international.

“I thought first half it wasn’t a great game with two teams that looked leggy but only one team who wanted to win it as they came for a point,” Wellens said.

“Fair play to them but we showed a lack of energy but I’m not too displeased as we got a point out of the game.

“In a perfect world we would have taken our front three off and freshened things up for this game but we were holding on for a hard one-nil win against Charlton on Boxing Day and couldn’t really do that which probably effected us today.

“Did we do enough to win the game? Maybe, maybe not but they haven’t had a shot on target and we thought we’d have more of the ball today when in fact we only had 62 per cent possession.

“We’ve come a long way in the last few weeks though and it showed with a team who are predominantly at the top of this league have come here and only come for a point.”

Wycombe boss Matt Bloomfield was also content with the point.

“I was really pleased with the clean sheet, particularly after conceding a couple of late goals recently and the long journey we had on Boxing Day at Exeter which had got to the legs of the boys,” he said.

“So I tried to freshen things up with five changes and wanted to pick an attacking team.

“We knew it was going to be a running game against a fit and young Orient team. We knew we needed to play on the front foot and attack them and I think we did that in the first half at times.

“We’re working hard at the moment. We will be in tomorrow and start preparing for Bristol Rovers on New Year’s Day.

“We all want to be celebrating wins and it’s not so much fun when you’re not, but we keep going and the boys are giving absolutely everything.

“In my 20 years I spent here I know what it means and working hard we get to where we want to be.”

Leyton Orient boss Richie Wellens refused to celebrate his side’s two late goals which earned victory at Cheltenham because he was so disappointed with their performance.

Orient picked up their first win in nine games as they came from behind against 10-man Cheltenham, who had Ben Williams sent off in the 18th minute.

Will Goodwin’s penalty put Darrell Clarke’s improving Robins in front in the 68th minute, but an own goal in the 89th minute from Sean Long and Ethan Galbraith’s winner deep into stoppage time turned the game around.

“I didn’t celebrate the equaliser or the winning goal because I am very performance-related,” Wellens said.

“I am happy because of the result but also frustrated because we came here with a game plan.

“You have to give Cheltenham a lot of credit because they are very aggressive and this is a difficult place to come as Oxford, Wigan and Derby have found here.

“We didn’t find any belief of rhythm in the second half because our decision-making was poor.

“I thought the subs were good when they came on and we kept going and showed fight. We’ve played a lot better than that in recent weeks and not got our just rewards, but football is mad.

“I am pleased for the supporters because it’s been a long time coming.”

Cheltenham started brightly, with Long turning Will Ferry’s low ball over the bar in the sixth minute.

The home side had Williams dismissed for two yellow cards in as many minutes, for fouls on Jordan Brown and Ruel Sotiriou.

Orient nearly capitalised as George Moncur saw a volley blocked in the six yard box by Tom Pett and Darren Pratley’s header cannoned off the bar from Theo Archibald’s corner.

Cheltenham regained the initiative in the second half, with Goodwin forcing Solomon Brynn into a diving save with a snapshot in the 62nd minute.

Their pressure paid off when Ferry was tripped by Pratley and Goodwin made no mistake with his penalty.

But substitute Shaq Forde’s shot was deflected into his own net by Long in the 89th minute and Galbraith won it with a shot from 22 yards in the fourth minute of time added on.

Cheltenham boss Clarke admitted it was a tough one to take.

“It’s very raw at the minute,” he said. “We are devastated to come away with nothing.

“With 10 men for such a long period of the game, I thought the boys were magnificent.

“Like I’ve just said to the lads, sometimes in football and in life, it can kick you down. It’s how we respond, but I am very disappointed for everybody.”

Leyton Orient head coach Richie Wellens believed that his side warranted the three points after their 1-1 draw against Bristol Rovers at the Memorial Stadium.

Rovers took the lead in the fourth minute of first-half stoppage time through Grant Ward, and Wellens was not happy with how his side defended the set-piece.

Orient did dominate possession and territory however, if unable to fashion chances, finishing the match with only two shots on target.

Their last-gasp equaliser was an own goal by Rovers defender Tristan Crama.

“The set-up is poor on our part. We shouldn’t be letting good players have a strike from the edge of the box but then we weren’t really in any danger,” said Wellens.

“I remember watching the second half and I don’t remember looking right, it was always in their half. Our football was smooth, that system really suited us but we just need to make more clever and unselfish runs to pick up space.

“Then apart from when we went to 1-1 and Browny (Jordan Brown) headed back and Marquis ran onto it we weren’t really in any danger.

“The performance was such that we deserved the three points.”

Andy Mangan, interim Bristol Rovers manager, explained that his side are being affected by the ongoing managerial situation following the sacking of Joey Barton.

Mangan said that he recognises that the players are not playing freely currently, after they took the lead through Ward but were unable to keep a second clean sheet in four league games.

“I’m gutted for the lads. We’ve dropped deeper and deeper and they keep getting balls in there and one has dropped for them. The goal should stand. The officials haven’t done anything wrong there,” he explained.

“The lads were nervy at that point (late in the game). They’re desperate to do well for the staff. But balls keep coming into the box and you have to see it out. In these winter months you’re going to see games like that.

“I can’t be any prouder of the players – they’re desperate for the staff to stay and they can’t give any more.

“I thought Leyton Orient were decent tonight. We’re not firing on all cylinders at the moment, which is completely understandable. They’re not playing free at the moment, with the situation going on at the moment.

“Everyone knows what’s happening at the club: are the staff going to stay or are they going to go? It’s a difficult situation.

“All I can say is that it’s been a wonderful experience and I’ve got nothing but thanks for the owners. All I can do is be thankful for the opportunity (to manage the club since Barton left).”

Richie Wellens felt Leyton Orient let down their fans after their rearranged game with Lincoln ended in a late 1-0 defeat.

Orient had been leading 1-0 in the original League One fixture on October 3 when the match was abandoned after 82 minutes due to a medical emergency. O’s fan Derek Reynolds suffered a cardiac arrest and was treated pitchside before he was later pronounced dead.

This time around, Ethan Hamilton struck in the 89th minute to earn a first win for new Lincoln boss Michael Skubala, and the performance left Wellens downbeat.

“It was a really disappointing night for us,” he said.

“I thought first half we were OK but just passed the ball for the sake of it and never got enough crosses into the box. We should have taken the lead with Joe Piggott through a header.

“Second half we were really, really poor.

“It wasn’t the performance that gave justice to the events which took place the last time we played them.

“And for our supporters to pay twice for that is not good enough and not acceptable from our players and the staff.

“Second half we just drifted and we could have won it and probably should have won it.

“Overall it was probably one of the most disappointing games I’ve had since I’ve been at the club.

“The squad is being tested at the moment (because of injuries) but no excuses we were poor tonight and we lacked energy.”

The visitors were indebted to goalkeeper Lukas Jensen for a couple of outstanding saves from Brandon Cooper and Ruel Sotiriou in either half that protected their clean sheet.

Skubala, who was appointed last week and was overseeing his second match in charge, praised his team’s display.

“I thought the lads were brilliant to a man,” Skubala said.

“It’s not an easy place to come here, particularly after the battle we had Saturday at Stevenage and we had to dig really deep and weather a few chances so I’m really proud of them.

“We tweaked a few things at half-time to try and give us more control in the game. I felt we didn’t have enough in the first half but second half we started to threaten and cause more problems for the opposition.

“We freshened things up with our substitutions and stopped them landing the ball in the box with all the players working hard.

“Our goalkeeper made a huge save for us at 0-0 which kept us in the game and we know he’s got that big performance. His kicking was excellent too but overall, it was a great team performance and everyone put in a team shift.

“It was a great finish for the winning goal from Ethan Hamilton.

“I said to the players we have to be sacrificial at times. Be good team mates to each other. That is a key part of a team’s journey.”

Richie Wellens hailed striker Aaron Drinan after Leyton Orient beat Carlisle 3-1 to book their place in the second round of the FA Cup.

A Joe Pigott penalty put Orient ahead before the visitors lost Callum Guy with a serious-looking leg injury in the first half.

Joe Garner equalised before goals by Orient substitutes Drinan and Ruel Sotiriou ensured the Londoners victory.

“I was pleased for Aaron Drinan that he got his goal, he has had an interrupted pre-season for two seasons on the bounce and when he’s fit and firing, he’s got pace and power and is a good finisher,” Orient boss Wellens said.

“But please, I request our supporters, if you want a fit and firing Aaron Drinan or any of our players, give them confidence. It doesn’t matter what level you play at, if you’ve got confidence, you are going to be a lot better.

“I thought that we started the first 20 minutes really well and then the last 15 or 20 minutes of the first half nothing really happened. Their shape then caused us a problem because I thought Carlisle were good for the first 20 minutes of the second half.

“When we changed to a four, I thought we were pretty dominant in the last 25 minutes and could have scored a few more.

“It was an important game for us both financially and because we wanted to get to the next round, so yes, it was a good day. We want to reach the third round at least and hopefully give the board of directors some money back.

“In the six years (since) the owners took over the club, I don’t think they have had a cup run.”

United boss Paul Simpson admitted his side needed to defend better.

“Again we didn’t work hard enough to stop the cross, similar to Cambridge last week, and it’s defending the goals which gave us a problem,” he said.

“We have to defend much better and need to address it very, very quickly.

“It’s a massively disappointing result for us. First half I thought the penalty was a little fortunate but I felt we needed to change it at half-time and we started the second half much brighter and much more positive. We started passing the ball better and got ourselves level with a really good goal.

“I thought we had Orient at one point but we have to say they thoroughly deserved to go through. They are a good footballing side but we have to do the horrible jobs you need to do in football on a consistent basis. If you don’t, you get punished.”

On the injury to Guy, Simpson said: “We’ve heard that it’s not a fracture but it’s not good news at all. We will get it scanned.”

Burton boss Dino Maamria was the happier of the two managers at the end of a goalless draw against Leyton Orient.

“I thought we played some of the best football we have played this season”, said Maamria. “All it needed was a goal. We weren’t as clinical as we have been lately, and we missed some big, big chances.”

Both sides had opportunities late on, with the best probably falling to Burton skipper Deji Oshilaja who could only fire over when unmarked inside the box.

Maamria added: “If Deji scores that chance with five minutes to go everybody would have been, hey, what a performance that was.”

The Burton boss was forced into changes owing to injury and admitted he tweaked his formation to cope with a strong Orient side.

He said: “We changed shape to fit the personnel we had available and to nullify their threats. They have been in really good form and they are hard to beat. They normally dominate possession and today we dominated that.

“I felt our game plan was perfect and all we needed was a goal. Max [Crocombe] had a big save at the end of the game, but their keeper made some unbelievable stops; Josh Walker early on with a point-blank save and then Tom Hamer’s chance. I don’t know who made the save, the keeper or a block on the line. We had clear-cut chances which came from our good football.”

Richie Wellens felt that the hectic schedule was a factor in a below-par performance from Orient.

“The second half stank of a third game in a week and a second away game in four days. We were really poor in the second half,” he admitted.

Striker Ruel Sotiriou failed to capitalise on a first-half chance when through on goal which frustrated the Orient manager.

“We were good at times in the first half, playing through them and Ruel has the best chance going straight through one on one and just has to tidy his touch up. We are disappointed in there.

“Burton had won four on the bounce at home before today, so we knew it was a tough place to come,  but the first half was more how we want to play the game and in the second half there were too many long throws and free-kicks,  and we just have to grow up and change with it.”

All things considered Wellens felt the result was fair as both sides hit the 20-point mark sitting safely in mid table.

He said: “All in all, did we deserve to win? Probably not. They could have nicked it in the end but with a lack of goalkeepers making big saves, apart from at the end, a draw was probably a fair result.”

Leyton Orient manager Richie Wellens was delighted to secure a 2-1 win against Reading after a difficult week for the club.

The O’s match with Lincoln on Tuesday was abandoned when lifelong supporter Derek Reynolds was taken ill and died later that evening.

Wellens had seen his team dominate the early exchanges against Reading to deservedly take a first-half lead through a Jordan Brown piledriver before Tyler Bindon equalised ahead of the interval.

But the points were secured in the 90th minute by George Moncur, who stepped off the bench to apply the final touch after a goalmouth scramble following a corner.

“It was a really emotional afternoon and I thought the club as a whole today made it a brilliant day to remember a lifelong supporter and someone who worked for the football club,” Wellens said.

“It’s been a very tough 72 hours. Finding that motivation to get going has been difficult

“We had to work hard in the end. We were totally dominant in the opening 20 minutes. We created loads of chances, we hit the crossbar and we found it easy to play round them but then they changed it when we scored and they blocked us up a bit.

“We’re still an emerging side, naive at times and tactically we have to get better while the game is happening but I can’t be prouder of the players as our points return has been really good.

“Jordan Brown epitomised what we’re all about. He was excellent today; picked pockets, kept possession and technically he’s a very good footballer which was demonstrated from the goal he scored.”

Reading remain in the relegation zone and manager Ruben Selles acknowledged that his side need to address their shortcomings.

“We competed well but it’s another moment late like the Exeter game where we lose the game in a situation we could have easily solved,” he said.

“We came here to compete and we were in the game. We came back after the first goal but we need to improve.

“Our pressure was not quick enough at the start of the game so I made a couple of modifications and we started to defend better. We went back to our system we know to get more pressure on the ball and it stopped the crosses coming in from the opposition.

“We lost Sam Hutchinson before the match as he was feeling his hip. He could run but not kick the ball so we had to made a change and brought in Charlie Savage.

“There is always pressure in football but there has been a lot of things out of our modifications of building the team but I will not make excuses. We came here to compete.”