Michael Raynes returned to the stating line up after recovering from his hamstring injury in place of Gianluca Havern dropping to the bench.

The Hatters three loanees, Liam Bridcutt, Nicholas Bignall and Paul Huntington were all making their home debuts.

Carl Baker inspired County to their first home victory of the season.

Watched by all his family the Hatters leading marksman turned in another virtuoso performance and deservedly collected another man-of-the-match award.

When he left the field with four minutes remaining Edgeley Park rose to give him an emotional standing ovation which the likeable Scouser was quick to acknowledge.

Moments later, though. County failed to clear a free kick and big defender Tamika Mkandawire smashed the ball home to half his side's deficit and set up a nervy finish which wasn't helped when the fourth official indicated five added minutes.

The Hatters defence in which Johnny Mullins was also outstanding saw the game out to record a deserved victory.

A largely forgettable first-half was notable for a few moments of Baker magic and some solid defending by Mullins.

But the game burst into life four minutes after the break. Baker, who covered every blade of grass, broke up an Orient attack virtually on his own goal line and smashed a clearance towards Nicholas Bignall. The on-loan striker shrugged off Ben Chorley's challenge and raced away from Mkandawire before side-footing a shot past Jamie Jones into the Cheadle End goal.

County went for the kill and in the next few minutes had the O's defence at full stretch. Dangerous crosses came in from both flanks and both David Poole and Baker saw goal-bound shots blocked.

The Hatters got the second goal their pressured deserved after 77 minutes. Bridcutt squared the ball to Baker who stepped over it to leave Tansey in space. The midfielder picked his shot from 25-yards and beat Jones with a low drive inside his right-hand post.

And County almost had another seven minutes from time when another piece of Baker magic saw him beat two defenders and then slip the ball towards the far post. Unfortunately the cross was just inches too high for Poole who would have had a free header.