Leyton Orient captain Jobi McAnuff heaped praise on head coach Justin Edinburgh after he guided the club back to the Football League.

Edinburgh’s first game in charge back in 2017 ended in defeat at Solihull Moors, but ironically it was at the same ground earlier this week that the O’s effectively sealed their return to League Two with a goalless draw.

The turnaround performed by the former Newport County and Northampton boss has been nothing short of remarkable, along with all of his backroom staff involved, and McAnuff insisted that his professionalism from day one was an enormous contributing factor in this success.

After the game against Braintree Town, he said: “He’s really instilled a winning mentality and a desire to just be the best you can every day and not to accept lack of effort. Everyone has got to be accounted for every time we step not just onto the match pitch but the training ground.

“We’ve got a fantastic squad of lads. Some haven’t played as much as they’ve wanted but their attitude and application every day is what has driven the team on this year.

“Even when he came in we weren’t in a great position by any means but he made it very clear from the outset that we have to find a way to win. I think in the early days it was not at any cost but it was just that feeling and an acceptance of if we played okay defeat wasn’t the worst thing whereas, when he came in, straight away he was like ‘that’s not acceptable, we’ve got to find a way to win games’.

“We’ve built on that. We’ve improved and grown and that culminates in what has been a brilliant season this year.”

With the O’s so close to Championship football not so long ago after the play-off final defeat against Rotherham United, the potential at the club now with them playing in League Two next season is clear for all to see, and McAnuff feels as though there is a high ceiling for the club currently.

He said: “[The potential] is massive. I think it always has been with the fan base the history behind the club. It’s a brilliant club and that’s why I came here in the first place because you hear the history and everyone was saying such great things about it.

“Clearly the first two or three years didn’t pan out that way but I can’t speak highly enough of the owners. They’ve given the club that platform and stability, and the fans for their patience last year and allowing us to build something.

“You only have to look at the likes of Luton, Lincoln have been brilliant. The main thing is getting out of the league. It’s a real tough league to get out of but once you get out of it, especially with what we’ve got upstairs, the sky is the limit. Nobody is getting carried away but we’re not going up just to make the numbers up next year. We want to really push on now and use what we’ve got here, which is a fantastic club and the fan base to really crack on.”