It’s been three months since Ed Turns signed for Leyton Orient on a six-month loan deal from Brighton and Hove Albion. While still with his parent club in the first half of this season, the 20-year-old defender had been caught in a catch-22: too familiar with football at academy level but too inexperienced to be given playing time in the Premier League. Now though, he is a key member of a Leyton Orient team eyeing a league title and promotion to League One.
It’s often said that there are some stark differences between academy competitions and first-team men’s football, so what does Turns think?
“It’s not a lie, it’s completely different!” he insists. “In under-23’s football, you can get away with things. You can bully players who are a bit younger or smaller than you. I’m only six foot one, it’s a decent size but some strikers in this league can be six foot four so you have to adapt your game. It helps that I’m an aggressive defender anyway, I like making tackles! I just love to defend.”
The 20-year-old defender has certainly had a season to remember. Since making the move to the capital, Turns has become a key member of Richie Welllens’ table-topping Leyton Orient team and admits he’s loving life in East London.
“I can’t complain about anything”, Turns says gleefully. “Everyone has made me feel really welcome from day one and now I feel like part of the team and have settled in properly. It didn’t take long at all. Obviously, the football is taking care of itself, we’re getting good results and playing well so everything is falling into place.”
Wales under-21
Turns’ rapid development of late has also seen him named as captain of Wales’ under-21’s side after making just one appearance for the team – a European Championships qualifier against the Netherlands. The Brighton-born defender qualifies to play for the country thanks to his Welsh grandmother and he his relishing the chance to test himself at the international level. “I was over the moon, I didn’t expect it at all”, Turns says. “I was named captain for the upcoming campaign. You’re just happy to get called up, let alone being named captain for the next two years. My family are very proud of me.”
Turns’ confidence has continued to grow during his short time at Leyton Orient. He scored his first professional goal against Crewe Alexandra in February before following it up with another against Walsall four days later. The defender has also been part of a defence that kept nine home clean sheets in a row – a new club record.
Watching their team shut the opposition out is something that Orient fans have grown used to this season – the O’s have conceded the second-least goals of any team in the football league. So what is it about the Orient defence that makes them so miserly?
“It’s probably about the way we play”, Turns says. “Because we keep the ball so well and are comfortable in possession, the opposition don’t get too many chances to score. We rarely give it away in our own half which is down to our ability and the way Richie sets us up in terms of set pieces and defensive shape.”
Helpful teammates
Credit: Leyton Orient Instagram
Turns also admits that he has been fortunate to play with, and learn from, excellent partners in the centre of defence. “Omar [Beckles] will help to talk me through the game. If he thinks there’s something that could be done better he tells me and helps me to improve. He’s big, strong, quick and as the vice-captain he’s a leader as well. At Brighton it was about watching players like Lewis Dunk train every day but during games I was usually on the bench so I was watching him from the sidelines and trying to pick up some tips.”
Having been born and raised on the south coast, the six month-loan to Leyton Orient forced Turns to move away from his hometown for the first time. “I’m in a clubhouse just ten minutes form the [Orient] training ground with a few of the other lads”, says Turns.
It’s fair to say that Turns has achieved a lot in a small space of time but the Orient centre back already has his eyes on another prize. “We want to win the league”, Turns says confidently. “That was my aim coming into the club, we’re seven points clear and we want to get it done as quickly as possible.” Ed Turns’ fast-moving career doesn’t seem like slowing down any time soon.