El Mizouni Returns for Leyton Orient Burton Albion Decider

Leyton Orient will have Idris El Mizouni back for their final game of the season against Burton Albion, and the midfielder is expected to be named on the substitutes' bench. A win at Brisbane Road will guarantee another year in League One for Orient, who are two points clear of 21st-placed Exeter City and above the relegation zone.

Brisbane Road Stakes

The timing matters because Orient have gone seven league matches without a win. Burton secured their own safety last weekend, so the home side goes into a match with survival still in its hands and the pressure set by its own run of results.

El Mizouni’s return gives Richie Wellens another option in a squad that has been stretched for much of the season. The head coach is serving the second game of a three-match touchline ban, which leaves Orient leaning on the players on the pitch to finish the job.

El Mizouni’s Stop-Start Season

The midfielder missed up to 14 weeks in the middle part of the campaign through injury. He came back in March for Orient’s 2-1 victory against Peterborough, but a setback in last month’s goalless draw with Mansfield sent him out again for the next two matches.

That makes this latest return more than a routine team-news update. El Mizouni became Leyton Orient’s record transfer signing from Oxford United last summer, so his availability for the season finale carries weight even if he starts on the bench rather than in the XI.

Connolly Back In Contention

Aaron Connolly is also in contention after returning last Saturday in Orient’s 1-0 defeat at Blackpool. With both he and El Mizouni available again, Wellens has more attacking depth for a match that decides whether Leyton Orient stay in the third tier next season.

For Orient, the task is direct: beat Burton and the season ends with safety secured. Anything less leaves the final-day pressure on a side that has already spent too long chasing form rather than points.