Hartlepool United suffer EFL Trophy hangover as Graeme Lee reacts to Leyton Orient stalemate at the Suit Direct Stadium

Pools were lacklustre throughout the 90 minutes at the Suit Direct Stadium in a game which lacked quality from both teams as neither side were able to break the deadlock.

Omar Bogle wasted Pools’ best opportunity of the game early in the second half when Mark Shelton found the striker unmarked in the area but his effort was tame with O’s keeper Lawrence Vigouroux making a comfortable save.

Neill Byrne, making his first league start since the win over Colchester United, helped Pools earn a point however when he scrambled an effort at goal from the line in an otherwise drab affair as Lee’s side suffered a hangover from their EFL Trophy semi-final exit on penalties to Rotherham United.

“It was flat, flat all over,” said Lee.

“I’m disappointed because it was an opportunity. I felt as though we had two home games on the bounce where we could go and get six points on the board and see where this season takes us.

“If you look on reflection from Wednesday night, it was the worry going into the game. Am I going to get the reaction or are we going to get a little bit of a disappointed reaction from the result of the other night?

“I was looking for a response in the sense of, forget the disappointment of the result on Wednesday, lets go again and unfortunately I got the other side which I worried about.

“We just lacked energy, we lacked drive. We were reactive instead of anticipating things. We didn't pick the second balls, we didn't hurt them enough, we didn't create enough.

“It was just one of them performances and it just wasn't an enjoyable game to watch and to be a part of.”

While the mood around the Suit Direct Stadium was deflated following their midweek shootout heartache, Lee admits there remained plenty of positive signs in training in the lead up to Saturday’s game.

Pools were dealt a blow ahead of the game against Richie Wellens’ side when striker Luke Molyneux admitted to being slightly fatigued with Lee forced to take precaution by starting the 23-year-old on the bench.

If meant a return to the starting XI for Newcastle United loanee Joe White as Lee remained confident in his line-up.

“The lads looked all right [in training]. We had a short and sharp morning [on Friday] trying to get some life into them and a bit of energy and a bit of fun but they were fine,” said Lee.

“You never know though. You can assess every part of it, you can assess every warm-up, every part of training but it’s what they do when they go over the line and you were just hoping they were ready but you could see it affected them from Wednesday night.

“I’ve just looked at Rotherham’s game and they’ve taken a 0-0 as well so maybe both teams have been a little bit jaded by it.

“But I was just disappointed because I felt as though it was an opportunity for us today and as much as we got a point it’s still not a performance we enjoyed.”

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