Andy Edwards revealed when speaking to reporters after Leyton Orient's 2-1 loss to Portsmouth he will not be able to bring in any players at this time.

Orient fell to their third defeat in over a  week after a Conor Chaplin doubled sealed the victory for the hosts at Fratton Park.

Gavin Massey scored a beauty in the first half to level the score at 1-1 but it was to be the only ray of light for the travelling O’s faithful.

The O’s have been hindered by injuries over the past few months and need to bring more players in as they look to avoid the drop into the National League.

Edwards said: “I have spoken with Francesco Becchetti, and I have been told at the moment we have to work and find a solution from within the club.

“So that is what we will continue to do. I have spoken to lots and lots of people about potential targets in case our situation changes.

“A few of those targets have obviously gone to other clubs now, so that is quite difficult. We will continue to look as our situation changes.

“Someone like Adam Barrett, he would give us competition. He is a leader, somebody I know very well.

“We would benefit having him and he would be an inspiration to the players in the dressing room.

“I think that is important as we have quite a lot of young players. We have some experienced ones in there but we have to start getting results.

“I think that character in this situation is very, very important.”

Michael Collins has also been an asset to the east London club since joining in October but he only has two weeks left on his contract.

With Becchetti reportedly selling the club and not making funds available to allow Edwards to sign, it has left the O’s fans wondering what will happen to the midfielder’s contract extension.

“I am not aware there has been any update on his contract. Obviously, I am hoping something gets sorted and it is resolved,” said the 45-year-old said about Collins’ contract situation.

“I think there might have been talks going on over the last couple of days but I have not found out the exact detail or of those talks.”

It was an unfortunate day for the O’s as Pompey were awarded a controversial penalty in the first half when Sammy Moore and Enda Stevens clashed in the six-yard box.

Cisak saved Chaplin’s penalty kick but two minutes later the forward tapped in from close range but looked to be offside.

The 19-year-old added his second from a header one minute after the second half got underway.

When asked how disappointed he was in the way Orient had lost the game he said: “I am very disappointed with both goals.

“Really sloppy goal we conceded at the start of the second period, it was a simple cross and we didn’t deal with the cross going into the box.

“And the smallest lad on the pitch scores and that is the real frustration. Contrary to what people think we do work at defending and we do work at a number of aspects of the game.

“But the same mistakes seem to be occurring. For the first goal, I thought the ref was poor to be fair. It is quite clear looking back at it, he is two or three yards offside.

“The linesman makes that decision to an extent, he already gave them a penalty, not in a million years was that a penalty.

“So it was tough. We felt we were up against it. Good side, the crowd and the officials made it very difficult for us today.”

Orient sit just two points above the relegation zone.