”Not a Championship club” - Richie Wellens makes honest claim after Leyton Orient beat Stockport County | OneFootball

The O's journey to Wembley has been unprecedented this season, to say the least

Leyton Orient manager Richie Wellens has claimed that his side "are not a Championship club," despite their penalty shootout win taking them to within 90 minutes of the second tier.

The O's edged a victory on penalties at Edgeley Park in the play-off semi-finals against Stockport County, after the two sides drew 3-3 on aggregate in an entertaining two-legged affair.

It means now that Leyton Orient have a big opportunity to secure Championship football for the first time in their history, something which felt like a dream just six years ago when Brisbane Road hosted National League games.

The rise has been meteoric over the past half-decade, and whilst Richie Wellens feels that the club itself isn't suited for Championship football as a result, getting to the second tier would help rapidly accelerate the progress for that to become a reality.

Richie Wellens shares honest Leyton Orient view after Stockport County success

Speaking to BBC Radio London following their play-off semi-final win on penalties, Leyton Orient manager Richie Wellens admitted that, despite the current ownership having envisioned the club becoming second tier regulars in the future, the club currently isn't what many believe to be a "Championship club."

"The stadium isn't big enough, the training ground isn't good enough, we're not a Championship club," Wellens said. "But if we get there, it will accelerate."

"The new ownership have plans to get there. It means we can maybe keep some of the players that are out of contract or are on loan, so it opens up a lot of doors."

When David Gandler became the new majority shareholder at Leyton Orient this past March, he set down long-term objectives which included improving the training facilities, building a new stadium and, overall, becoming a club which could compete sustainably at Championship level.

Whilst these were likely to be completed at some point in the future, many wouldn't have predicted the club to have achieved its goal of second-tier promotion so soon. Now, with the club 90 minutes away from such, long-term plans may need to be shifted to the short term soon.

Richie Wellens expresses pure pride at Leyton Orient's rise

When Richie Wellens took over as manager at Leyton Orient, the O's were sitting 20th in League Two, looking precariously at a possible return to the National League. Since then, it's been nothing but an upward trajectory with him in charge.

Wellens could be looking at a second promotion in his third full season in charge at Brisbane Road, and he praised his squad after their penalty win at Edgeley Park for putting him in a position to make it happen.

"I think that they're a special group," Wellens added. "Not just of footballers, and they've got the talent and some of them will grow, but I think they're special people.

"I didn't want a group of special people for their last game to be at Edgeley Park, I wanted it to be at Wembley.

"I've got a lot of love for this football club and I want to get to the Championship with Leyton Orient - it would be an unbelievable occasion."

Leyton Orient's highest level in their history came in the 1962/63 season, when the O's played in the old First Division for a single season.

Wellens and co have a chance to make modern-day history for the football club on May 25, and complete an underdog story to bring a club many believe isn't Championship-ready to the second-tier.