PRATLEY STILL LEADING BY EXAMPLE FOR MIGHTY O'S

Wellens praises veteran’s influence

- Dane Massey

DARREN Pratley turns 38 in just a couple of weeks, but he continues to lead by example.

Having formed a key part of four successful promotion bids throughout his career so far, he looks on course to earn a fifth as captain of Leyton Orient, who lead League Two by ten points with a game in hand having gone 11 games unbeaten.

In the 2007-08 campaign, he played 42 games for Swansea as they were promoted to the Championship where he was an ever-present for the Welsh club across three seasons in the second tier.

Pratley played in the Premier League for Bolton whom he won promotion to the Championship with in 2017 before doing the same with Charlton two years later.

In a career that now stands at 641 senior appearances, the veteran midfielder has drawn on his experiences to help out his squad.

He played a key role in the O’s second goal, knocking the ball in behind for Ruel Sotiriou who teed up George Moncur after he’d opened the scoring himself.