Albion can expect the unexpected against Leyton Orient tomorrow.

How do you work out a team which followed a 4-0 win at Crewe and 2-1 victory at home to Port Vale with Saturday's 5-0 humiliation at fellow strugglers Bournemouth?

The first hat-trick of Darren Sick Note' Anderton's career helped drop the unpredictable East Londoners back into the relegation zone.

Martin Ling, the O's manager and former Albion loan midfielder, was surprised as anybody by his side's capitulation.

He said: "We seem to chuck one of these performances in every now and then but I didn't see it coming, because we had been getting better recently.

"We went 2-0 down in a period when I thought we were the better side but after the first 15 minutes we were utterly outplayed by a team who haven't been great this season. Darren Anderton looked like the England international of old and we were thrashed.

"The basics of the game let us down. We were poor all over the pitch. Our passing let us down and our defending, both individually and collectively, was rubbish."

A damaging result was compounded by injury and suspension problems. Jabo Ibehre, the striker who rejected a move to Albion last season, is out with a hamstring injury sustained at Bournemouth.

So too is midfielder Luke Gutteridge with an ankle injury, while another booking for Brian Saah means he is suspended for Saturday's home game against Carlisle.

Ling was frustrated, even before Ibehre's injury, by an unsuccessful search for a striker during the January transfer window.

But he has secured the long-term services of Adam Chambers on a two-and-a-half-year contract and snapped up former Norwich midfielder Phil Mulryne on a three-month deal until the end of the season.

Chambers, who was without a club last year as he battled back from a series of injury problems, has proved a revelation at Brisbane Road since Ling took a gamble on the former West Brom man at the start of the campaign.

Ling said: "I'm very happy to reward Adam for his efforts because he has been fantastic for us this season.

"To begin with it was a little gamble on our part to take Adam and the wages we have been paying have reflected that. But we knew there was a good player in there and the lad has proved he has the quality to get back to playing at the highest level.

"I'm glad, though, that he sees his immediate future with us and it is a very big plus to get this deal sorted out now rather than wait for the summer.

"I know for a fact that everyone I speak to at other clubs in this league regard Adam very highly.

"I'm sure that along with some Championship, and even a few teams from the Premiership, there would have been plenty of interest in the summer if we hadn't have got him."

Mulryne had unfortunately timed a trial with Albion in-between the sacking of Mark McGhee and appointment of Dean Wilkins.

Ling said: "For various reasons the lad has a bit of a black hole in his CV for the last 18 months but he has proved to me that since he has been on trial with us that he is keen to fill it.

"Prior to that you can't question Phil's ability and it is up to him now to show the hunger needed to prove people wrong.

"At the moment he is a little way off but Phil is doing some of the programme the lads worked on during pre-season and while he certainly isn't ready to start a game I'm sure he could probably give us 20 minutes."

Meanwhile, Ling has revealed that attempts to get loan rules relaxed so that he can keep Charlton striker James Walker at Brisbane Road beyond February 23 have fallen on deaf ears.

That leaves the O's boss looking for two new forwards to bring in on loan.