Leyton Orient’s 43-year wait to return to the second tier continues after their 1-0 defeat to Charlton Athletic at Wembley, but head coach Richie Wellens assures there’s more to come from his developing side.

The O’s hopes to achieve their second promotion in three seasons were denied by Macaulay Gillesphey’s set piece, which slipped past the outstretched fingertips of Josh Keeley in the 31^st minute.

Opportunities may have gone amiss for Wellens outfit, but the O’s boss believes his side can leave with their heads high, particularly as a chance at promotion seemed nothing if not a pipe dream just five months ago when they found themselves in the relegation zone.

“We’re a growing Club; we’re a developing Club. I came here three years ago when we were 20^th in League Two. So, to be here - yes, it’s disappointing - but we have to realise where we’ve come from.

“Look at Charlton. They’re a big Club. They’ll need new players but they’re ready to go up to the Championship.

“The last two seasons we lost three or four games, and we’re always chasing our tale. I honestly believe this year, if we’d had a good start, then we could have potentially got in the top two.

Having faced their largest-ever crowd, with 76,193 in attendance, Wellens confirmed he had warned the players prior to their trip to HA9.

“When you come to Wembley and you’re young players, you want to look good. By look good, I mean you want to get on the ball and knit passes together, but you’re in front of Charlton.

“The amount of times we played through the lines and we could have got them quicker was a lot today. But then we turn the next pass down, and we turn the next run down, and we come back, pass it to the halfway line, and then Charlton are back in shape.

“Again, we’re working with young players who will develop and go on to have top careers, and hopefully we’ll learn from it.

“Are we ready to go to the Championship? We could have got through today. We could have won that game, easily. But as a Club, we need more time.”

Richie Wellens: ‘We could have ended up in the top two’

Richie Wellens: ‘We could have ended up in the top two’