Marvin Ekpiteta says the travelling Leyton Orient fans will have a “massive” role to play as the O’s look to return to winning ways against Maidenhead United on Saturday.

Justin Edinburgh’s men were beaten for the first time this campaign when Jonah Ayunga struck in the 48th minute to secure Sutton United a 1-0 win at the Breyer Group Stadium last weekend.

That brought the O’s record breaking unbeaten start to the season to an end and also meant they were overtaken by the class of 92’s Salford City at the top of the table following their 3-0 win over Maidenhead.

Orient will also be hoping for revenge over Alan Devonshire’s Maidenhead, who beat the O's 1-0 in their final home game last campaign and the Magpies currently sit in 16th place in the National League.

Having lost their first game of the season, it is now a question of how the O’s will react to their first real set-back and centre-back Ekpiteta feels Orient’s travelling faithful will have a massive role to play in helping the East London side return to winning ways.

The 22-year-old said: “The away fans have been unreal all season. They’ve been behind us all the time and we’ve got some great results away from home and at some tough places and that’s partly because of them.

“They’ve got a massive part to play, so it will be good if they could continue to follow us and continue to give us the support that we need.

“The Sutton game has gone now. There’s nothing we can do about it so now we’ve just got to go again and Saturday is a new game for us and another chance for us to get three points.

“Every team is going to work hard in this league first and foremost, so as long as we match them with our work rate, then we will be better than most teams with the ball and attacking as well.”