Fan favourite Dean Cox is hopeful that Leyton Orient will be able to return to the Football League under Justin Edinburgh’s stewardship next season.

It has been a transitional year for Orient on the pitch under the ownership of Nigel Travis and Kent Teague, but their fortunes have slowly improved since Edinburgh’s appointment as head coach back in November, finishing the season in 13th place in the National League.

When Edinburgh took over, Orient fans had little to celebrate with the O’s in 20th in the table and without a win in 14 league games, but they finished the campaign in good form, losing just two of their last eight matches.

Cox has been impressed with the former Northampton Town manager’s work so far and he is hopeful that the O’s will be able to earn promotion back to the Football League in the near future.

He said: “If they had started with Justin then I think they would have been up there. No disrespect to Steve Davis as he had to come in and steady the ship and he was the stepping stone that they probably needed. Justin has now taken the reigns and everyone can see that the results are picking up.

“I read an interview which Jobi McAnuff did and he said the excuses are gone and I agree with that. This club is far too big to be in the National League and I’m pretty sure Justin’s message from the start of the season will be that we need to get this club back into the Football League. I hope they do that. I really do.”

For Cox, it has been a difficult season with Crawley Town in League Two, with the 30-year-old being restricted to just five appearances in all competitions over the course of the campaign.

Cox joined Crawley in September 2016 after his contract with Orient was terminated by mutual consent and he admitted to the Guardian Series earlier this year that he would never rule out a return to the O’s in some capacity in the future.

However, after such a frustrating campaign with Crawley, the midfielder admitted that he would consider his future at the League Two club this summer.

He said: “It has to be decided. I think it’s no mystery that I haven’t been playing. I want to play. Football is a funny game. But I want to get back playing as I’ve been sitting around doing nothing really. I want games and we will see what the summer brings.”