Orient defender Gary Sawyer believes their FA Cup trip to Gloucester City represents a welcome distraction from their league campaign.

The O’s have struggled in the last month with a poor run of form in League One seeing them tumble to just above the relegation zone.

But Orient can forget about their problems in the league and concentrate on avoiding a potential banana skin at the Conference North outfit on Sunday afternoon.

Sawyer said: “I think it’s a good distraction. The FA Cup is always good and it gets everyone’s tails up. I think it’s good that we’ve got an important game coming up and we can take our mind off the league.

“I had a good cup run when I was younger at Exeter so I’m fond of the cup. People still hold it in high regard, especially clubs like ourselves. If you can make it to the third round then you’ve got the chance of a big gun and everyone wants to play at a high level against the best players, so it would be nice if we could do that.”

Sawyer added: “There’s pressure in every game and that’s football for you at this level. It’s a good game for us and definitely a winnable game. If we can go there and play like we did against Coventry then hopefully we won’t have any problems.”

The match is taking place on Sunday because Gloucester play their matches at Whaddon Road and Cheltenham Town are also at home this weekend. Sawyer thinks the fact the cup tie is taking place at the League Two side’s ground is an advantage for the O’s.

The former Bristol Rovers left-back said: “Cheltenham’s a lovely football pitch so it will suit us and it’s a good draw for us.

“Sometimes it’s a leveller when you go down to that level and you play on their pitches if they’re tight and not great. Cheltenham are a good football club with a great playing surface so that should suit us.”