As someone who has played at the highest level in the Premier League with Wolverhampton Wanderers, George Elokobi has had the pleasure of working alongside some of this country’s most respected managers.

But it is with Leyton Orient in the National League where Elokobi has come across ‘one of the best man managers’ that he’s ever worked with in the shape of current O’s boss Justin Edinburgh.

That’s certainly high praise from a player who once scored against Manchester United for Wolves back in February 2011.

But Edinburgh’s impact at the Breyer Group Stadium shouldn’t be underestimated.

Having taken over with the club in 20th place in the table and without a win in 14 league games, the O's head coach re-galvanised the Orient squad, steering them away from the drop zone and towards a comfortable mid-table finish last season.

Orient had the best defensive record in the league under Edinburgh and finished the campaign in good form, losing just two of their last eight league games as they secured a 13th place finish.

Elokobi established himself as a key member of the Orient side under the O’s head coach and he was full of praise for the former Northampton Town manager’s impact since his arrival in November.

Speaking to the Guardian Series earlier this week, the centre-back said: “He’s (Edinburgh) been amazing. When he came into the club, we were in a bad spell of games and we hadn’t won for ages. Confidence was down, but credit to himself, he trusted everyone and got everyone’s head up and thinking positively that we could turn things around.

“I believe he knows deep down that we gave it our all to change things around that quickly because sometimes, it’s not easy to turn that losing streak into a winning streak. Credit to him for coming in and giving us that confidence and that platform to be able to kick on and get those wins, because at one stage it didn’t look like we could win a game.

"When he came in, that mentality changed. All he demanded was hard work on the training ground and then the rest of it would take care of itself.

“He’s one of the best man managers I’ve ever played under. I’ve played under some good ones but he’s up there with one of the best in terms of man managing the players and he knows what the players need.

“His door is always open so the players can approach him with any issues and if there’s anything that needs to be spoken about, he’s always open to try and help the players out.

“On the football pitch, he demands the best as we know how good we can be as a team and he knows what a good squad we have.”

Having got Orient back on track after a season of consolidation in the National League, Edinburgh’s next focus is to guide the East London club back into the Football League.

The 48-year-old told the Guardian Series recently that he believes Orient are more than capable of finishing in the play-offs this season and he has made minimal changes to the squad ahead of the new campaign, with just two new arrivals moving to Brisbane Road in the shape of Dale Gorman as well as striker James Alabi.

Elokobi, though, insisted that the squad would adopt a more pragmatic approach, with the team keen to keep their feet grounded to avoid any potential complacency.

“I don’t want to be talking about promotion right now because it is a long season,” Elokobi said.

“We are staying grounded and we are not getting carried away. We have fantastic owners and a fantastic fan-base. We appreciate they’re support.

“But we are under no illusion to think that we are going to win this league, because there are some very good teams in this league. At the same time, everyone in this league is trying to get promoted and that’s our thought process.

“We need to stay grounded, take one game at a time and make sure we pick up as many points as we can and then at the end of the season, we can see where it leads to.”