CARETAKER manager Les Parry is weighing up an abundance of options in selecting a side to keep Tranmere’s FA Cup campaign alive at Leyton Orient tonight.

Four players who were missing from action last weekend should be back in contention for the first round replay at Brisbane Road.

Shaleum Logan, a regular at right-back for most of the season, versatile Australian Gareth Edds and midfielders Alan Mahon and Charlie Barnett could all make cases for a recall to the side as Rovers attempt to earn the right to a second round tie at home to Aldershot later this month.

But Parry and coaches Shaun Garnett and Wayne Allison also have to consider the merits of the players who contributed to a solid and encouraging performance in a 2-0 League One defeat at Norwich City last Saturday.

Parry said: “The players who came in last weekend, Marlon Broomes, Paul McLaren and Ryan Fraughan all impressed me.

“But we have Shay Logan and Charlie Barnett back from suspension and hopefully Alan Mahon (ankle) and Gareth Edds (chickenpox) are going to be okay.”

The defeat at Norwich was Tranmere’s fourth reverse in six games under Parry’s temporary regime.

But the long serving physio reckons the quality of the performance outweighed the disappointment from a result that left Rovers rooted in the bottom four.

Parry said: “After the game we had a word with the lads and said we could go two ways.

“We could feel sorry for ourselves or kick on.

“Every one of them to a man was up for kicking on.

“We can take a lot of positives from the performance.

“Norwich are an excellent side.

“We won’t meet many teams this season who are as good as they are. Hopefully the same level of performance against other teams will get us a win.”

Parry is pleased the weekend voices of encouragement for Tranmere included that of Norwich manager Paul Lambert, who predicted the League One strugglers would pull themselves out of trouble with displays like last Saturday.

“Supporters who did not go to the game can read the local papers and hear our staff say the team did well,” Parry said.

“The fact that the manager of the opposition is saying the same thing is brilliant.

“Paul Lambert also said, to be fair, that if the penalty (for Norwich’s first goal) had been given against them he would have been devastated.”

Rovers reckon they took less than they deserved from the original meeting with Orient 11 days ago, which finished in a 1-1 draw at Prenton Park.

Parry said: “We should have gone through the first time but we start again on level terms. It’s going to be a slightly different game because I would not expect us to dominate the play as we did at Prenton Park.”

Tonight’s replay will be decided on the night, by extra time and penalties if necessary.

The two sides will then square up again in a League One encounter, also at Brisbane Road, on Saturday. Parry added: “Both games are financially important to us for different reasons.

“But we are just going to concentrate on the cup tie for now. Games in the cup tend to be a little different because of the one-on-one situation.”

Orient, six points and four places above Tranmere in the table, were beaten 1-0 at Hartlepool United last weekend.