The former Leyton Orient winger revealed his potential plans for after retirement and his desire to play more next season

East London Advertiser: Crawley Town midfielder Dean Cox (pic: Simon O'Connor).Crawley Town midfielder Dean Cox (pic: Simon O'Connor). (Image: Simon O'Connor Photography)

Dean Cox has plenty of playing years left in him, but has revealed his desire to be a coach one day and would love the chance to manage Leyton Orient in the future.

The Crawley Town winger was back on his old stomping ground on Sunday to support Errol McKellar and Martin Ling’s ‘Big Match, Big Cause’ event in aid of Prostate Cancer UK and Hertfordshire Mind Network.

Cox was set to play in the charity match between Ling’s London Legends and McKellar’s Celebrity XI, but a clause in his contract with the League Two club prevented him from featuring.

During the day, the former O’s wide-man spoke to various media and in an interview with BBC Sport he got fans talking by referring to himself when mentioning the people trying to help Orient gain promotion next season.

It appeared to be a genuine slip of the tongue with the club already boasting a number of wingers on their books and director of football Martin Ling recently revealing he is looking to sign players aged in their mid-twenties.

So while a playing return to Orient doesn’t seem on the cards for Cox, he would relish an opportunity to go back to Brisbane Road as a future manager one day.

When speaking to this title, he said: “I would absolutely love to be a coach. I’m looking forward to doing my coaching and I will definitely do my badges.

“I need to get it sorted, so that’s something I’ll definitely get done, but I have plenty more playing years left in me.

“Long-term I’d like to be a manager one day and if it could be Leyton Orient it would be extra special.

“But I will start my trade anywhere and I would do something similar to what Sammy Moore did with Leatherhead in the Bostik Premier.

“If I have to start in non-league I’d do it, there is no shame in that at all and Sammy’s done great.

“What I had at Leyton Orient was great and if I could one day come back to this club as manager it would be very sweet. It would be very nice.”

For now Cox remains a player, but he didn’t get as many minutes on the pitch as he wanted last season at Crawley.

The 30-year-old only made four appearances in League Two and while he admitted he has to be playing more, he would like to remain at the West Sussex-based club if more opportunities came his way during the 2018/19 campaign.

Cox added: “Everyone who knows me knows I’m terrible if I miss one game and I missed a fair chunk of the past season, so I need to be playing.

“We’ll see what the summer brings. Football can be a strange game and I haven’t really got assurances from Crawley, so we will have to see. I am in a bit of a predicament.

“Most business is done around late June, so we will see what arises, but ultimately I want to play and if I can play for Crawley that would be great.

“I am not saying I want to leave Crawley, but I haven’t played enough this past season, so something needs to change and we will see what happens.”