Justin Edinburgh expressed his delight at continuing his “fantastic journey” as head coach of Leyton Orient after signing a new two-and-a-half-year deal.

Edinburgh, who took over the club in November 2017 when they were 20th in the National League, has guided the O’s to the top of the table at the midway point of this campaign.

He told the club website: “A lot of people have put an incredible amount of great work in, we’ve laid real good foundations and the future here, with so many young players coming through the youth team into the first team, is exciting.

“There’s senior players here with class and professionalism in abundance so what lies ahead is a really exciting journey and chapter and what we’ve done in that year to turn around the form, the results, the consistency has been quite remarkable.”

Edinburgh was full of praise for everybody at the O's after extending his contract, which follows an excellent start to the season for Orient.

He said: “I’d like to thank the staff and the players for all the work to allow this to happen because without them, the start that we’ve had under my reign wouldn’t have been as good as it has.

“What this does is it gives me a fantastic opportunity to continue to build and develop what we’ve started here and I really am excited about what lies ahead for myself and the staff and the players and more so, the people who have been so good to me since I’ve been here, the fans.”

Edinburgh, who has also been in charge of Football League sides Newport County, Gillingham and Northampton Town in his managerial career, expressed his pleasure of being at the club, saying he “doesn’t feel he’s been happier for many a year".

He continued: “My family have been an incredible support since I’ve been here and over my career and we’ve had some fantastic times.

“I think what we echo is that we need to remain focused now. There’s some real exciting games and times ahead and it was an easy decision for me to sign this extension, there was no second thought, it was just when can we get it done and how long can it be for?”

Edinburgh’s first game after putting pen to paper was the 1-0 away win at Wrexham in the second round of the FA Trophy, with Matt Harrold’s penalty the deciding factor in that game.

His first league game with an extended deal will see the O’s on the road again as they travel to Ebbsfleet United on Saturday.