Leyton Orient manager Richie Wellens was ecstatic after their penalty shootout victory against Derby, claiming "the magic of the FA Cup is alive" as his side set up a dream clash with Manchester City. The League One outfit took the lead in the first half through Charlie Kelman, but Derby's Dajaune Brown promptly equalised four minutes later.

With no further goals, the tie went to penalties, and Zech Obiero's successful shot secured a 6-5 win for Orient.

Wellens lauded his team's effort: "The players put an unbelievable effort in," remarking on the return of players from illness and the significance of the night, especially with a youth player netting the decisive penalty. He acknowledged that while Orient controlled the early game, their passing could have been sharper at times.

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"Derby are a good team and they have lightning wingers and I thought they could score on the counter-attack but the stadium felt alive tonight especially at the end."

He continued praising the cup's excitement and expressing optimism for the Manchester City encounter: "The magic of the FA Cup is alive and perhaps we can beat Man City in normal time. I’m delighted for the chairman."

The Orient boss was proud that his team exceeded expectations: "It’s not typical Orient anymore where our supporters would have probably looked at this tonight thinking it’s going to be a missed opportunity but we delivered to a man."

On the topic of the penalties, Wellens advised his players to show confidence and skill: "On the penalties, I told the players, step up and strike through the ball and show your technique."

Derby boss Paul Warne also spoke out, giving a frank evaluation of his side's performance: "I don’t think we did enough to win the game to be honest," he conceded.

"I thought we had moments of good play but I don’t think we worked their goalkeeper enough. We had to make a change because of an injury and then I made some changes to our attacking line to freshen it up."

"We didn’t create enough, we didn’t make their goalkeeper make enough saves and it became a stalemate."

"I didn’t think they were any better than us but I just don’t think we were sharp enough. We nearly got in a few times but we were literally like the nearly men tonight."

"We were close to doing something but we weren’t close enough. That’s how it feels to me."

"Playing Manchester City would have been a good game for our players, especially for the new lads at the club when it would have been a great game. So the motivation was there but it didn’t transpire into performance."