Ross Embleton has praised James Alabi’s attitude after the striker got off the mark for Leyton Orient against FC Halifax Town at the weekend.

The striker, who moved to East London from Tranmere Rovers in the summer for an undisclosed fee, had endured a tough start to life with the O’s having failed to score in his first six games for the club.

He was then handed a straight red card against Gateshead meaning he had to serve a three game suspension, with Matt Harrold impressing from the bench in Alabi’s absence, scoring against Dover Athletic and Solihull Moors.

But Alabi returned to the match-day squad against Halifax on Saturday and stepped off the bench to bundle home a stoppage time equaliser to earn Justin Edinburgh’s men a 1-1 draw away from home.

That strike was the former Chester striker’s first for nearly ten months, with his last National League goal coming against Eastleigh during a loan spell for Dover last November.

It has proven to be a troubled year on the pitch for Alabi after his failed move to Tranmere, but his first goal for the O’s will undoubtedly fill him with confidence and assistant coach Embleton was delighted to see the 23-year-old’s name on the scoresheet.

Embleton said: “I’m absolutely over the moon for him. I think after the fact that he’s missed the last three games and the form as it is, a lot of people wouldn’t have expected to see him on the bench on Saturday.

“But what we see every day is that his attitude, desire and belief to keep going and trying and working hard is excellent, even if his performances aren’t as refined as he would have liked them to be.

“We’re in a fortunate position to see that and he’s fully deserved to have been put straight back on the bench. It was a great decision by the gaffer to get him straight back involved and when we were chasing the game, he was the obvious one to bring on after we had brought Matt on.

“I was absolutely over the moon for him that he got that goal and I think he’s really deserved it after a slow start.”