ORIENT manager Geraint Williams has moved to strengthen his squad with the capture of loan duo Nicky Adams and Matthew Briggs, writes TREVOR DAVIES. The pair arrive initially for a month, but could stay longer and following the capture of French striker

ORIENT manager Geraint Williams has moved to strengthen his squad with the capture of loan duo Nicky Adams and Matthew Briggs, writes TREVOR DAVIES.

The pair arrive initially for a month, but could stay longer and following the capture of French striker Jonathan T�hou� last week, Williams has freshened up his squad as the O's look to pull away from the League One relegation zone.

Adams is a winger who has joined from Championship side Leicester City where he has played eight times for the Foxes this season.

While Briggs is an 18-year-old central defender, who has been signed from Premier League outfit Fulham, and has already had some first team experience.

Both were thrown straight into the starting 11 for Tuesday night's League One clash with Yeovil Town, while T�hou� was named as a substitute and played for the last 15 minutes.

O's recorded a vital 2-0 win to move out of the drop zone and Williams has not ruled out making more signings.

"We're always looking to strengthen, although I'm not sure the chairman will be glad to hear that," he smiled.

"But if it's within budget and the player is of the right quality and character we will look to bring them in," he added.

"We're scouring all the time to look for players. But we're on a sensible budget and we have got some quality players, so it's not that easy to improve the squad.

"But certainly the three lads we have just brought in will help us out."

Williams was delighted with the performance of both Briggs and Adams on Tuesday, but also had a word of praise for T�hou�, who came on for the last 15 minutes.

"He is a powerful player with a burst of pace and a good shot and you saw all that during the time he was on the pitch," said Williams.

"But he is still short of match practice."

While T�hou� has all the makings of a crowd pleaser, both Briggs and Adams were solid performers in the victory.

A delighted Williams said: "It was an excellent performance and we have actually gone on from a winning position to take advantage of that, kept a clean sheet and I thought we ran out worthy winners at the end of the night."

Briggs, who has progressed through the Fulham Academy, has represented England at under-19 and under-20 level and will remain at Brisbane Road until February 13.

The O's boss said: "We go out to watch Premier Reserve League games on a regular basis and Matthew has always impressed us.

"He's a left-sided defender, who is comfortable on the ball and we feel that with his mobility he will add to our defensive options, giving competition for the defenders already at the club."

The Fulham youngster made history when he became the youngest player to make a Premier League appearance at the age of just 16 years and 65 days at Middlesbrough on the final day of the 2006-07 season.

Meanwhile, Adams will also stay until February 13. He has made his mark as a lively winger and will give Williams different options in that area.

Adams began his career at Bury and scored 14 goals in 61 league starts.

He also spent time on loan at Rochdale before he moved to Leicester City in the summer of 2008 for a �100,000 fee.

The 23-year-old, who was born in Blackpool, has made a total of 28 appearances for the Foxes since his move to the Walkers Stadium.

But one man who won't be back at The Matchroom is winger Andros Townsend.

His loan move finished at the end of December and Williams was hoping he might return to Brisbane Road in the New Year.

However, although Townsend returned to Tottenham, he has since gone out on loan to Orient's League One rivals MK Dons.

When the two sides met earlier in the season the teenage winger came in for some rough treatment from the MK Dons players and it will be interesting to see if the roles are reversed if Townsend plays for the promotion-chasers against the O's in March.