Orient boss Ian Hendon determined to keep hold of hotshot Jay Simpson
ByPA Sport Report
Published 02/01/2016 at 19:25 GMT
Ian Hendon insists he will be doing all he can to keep hold of striker Jay Simpson after the Football League's top scorer netted twice to earn Leyton Orient a 2-2 draw at Stevenage.
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Simpson helped himself to two goals in the second half - including a second deep into stoppage time - to force a draw after Stevenage substitute Armand Gnanduillet had scored a brace himself.
Those goals took Simpson's tally to 20 for the season - form that will alert clubs around the country during the January transfer window.
But Hendon, whose side moved up to eighth, two points off the Sky Bet League Two play-offs, is determined not to see his star forward leave.
"Jay is in the best of the form that he's had in his career, so there are some highlights from the game," he said.
"Jay is working his socks off, he's getting his goals and he needs a bit of help, whether that's from partners up front or defenders keeping clean sheets.
"I hope we don't get any calls about Jay because we don't want to lose him, we want to build a team around him.
"I've heard nothing, I've spoken to his agent and he's very happy here as he's enjoying his football and scoring goals.
"We've seen the goals again and it's just poor defending. We work on it all week and we ask the guys to do a job and sadly, they've not done it again so all that hard work that Jay (Simpson) is doing at the moment is to no avail."
Stevenage manager Teddy Sheringham said: "We played some very good stuff to get back into the game. I'm very disappointed to go behind with the penalty decision but we played fantastically after that.
"Frazer is coming out to make himself big, you have to keep your balance to keep yourself big, and I don't think he's got his hands anywhere near past his waist or anything like that.
"It is hard to take. I wouldn't want to get a penalty like that. I just don't think it is a penalty from shooting like that and hitting someone's hand.
"I thought we played some fantastic football after that in very difficult conditions.
"I thought we stuck to our way of playing, kept trying, worked our socks off, the desire was fantastic to get back into game, keeping ball at right time, and we got our rewards.
"But then, five minutes to go from the end we concede and that is disappointing."
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