Justin Edinburgh has been appointed Leyton Orient head coach on a two-and-a-half year deal.

The former Northampton Town and Gillingham takes over from Ross Embleton who had in charge on an interim basis in the wake of Steve Davis’ dismissal.

He will be tasked with turning around the O’s ailing season, which has seen them slip to within a place of the National League relegation zone after a run of 14 games without a win.

The 47-year-olds first game in charge sees him take the O’s on the road to take on Solihull Moors.

Saturday’s opponents sit bottom of the table with just 13 points to their name and the clash could represent the ideal chance to make a winning start to life at Brisbane Road.

Orient director Martin Ling is pleased to have made the appointment and feels Edinburgh has the required experience to help Orient recover.

He told the O’s website: “We are extremely pleased to be able to welcome Justin to this Football Club.

“We built up a criteria for a Head Coach and Justin ticked all of the boxes.

“He has experience in the National League which I feel is of huge importance, but also enjoyed success in this division by achieving promotion with Newport.

“What I really liked about Justin’s CV was that he started in non-league and earned his stripes by succeeding at this level before building on that in the Football League.”

Long accepts the road back to becoming a football league club is a long one and says Edinburgh’s experience at National League level will stand orient in good stead.

He said: “We are focussed on moving this Club forward, but the first hurdle is the most difficult in getting out of this division and that has been proven over the years.

“Justin has overcome that first hurdle before and is someone that we know can be very productive.

“He has a record of pulling teams away from trouble and improving them during his tenure.”