AVONMOUTH have signed new Bristol captain Joe El-Abd as a coach ahead of their South West Two West campaign.

El-Abd joins former Clifton second row Wayne Hone and ex-Bristol full-back Sean Marsden at the Western Counties North title winners.

Club chairman Steve Leyshon said: “We are delighted to have Joe on board. We have no doubts next season will be a big challenge for us but we are relishing it.

“To get someone of the quality of Joe El-Abd, who has recently been announced as the new Bristol captain, is a great coup for the club.

“We are hoping that Joe, Sean and Wayne will bring more professionalism to the club.

“We have a good bunch of players and having the likes of these guys coaching them will hopefully bring the best out of them.”

El-Abd replaces former Bristol hooker Saul Nelson, who has joined Somerset Premier side St Bernadette’s.

Avonmouth have won back-to-back promotions but Leyshon refuses to put a target on where he thinks the side will finish next term.

“To get promotion two years running is no mean achievement and I am really proud of all the players and backroom staff,” he said.

“We cannot stand still, we need to continue to move forward. But we have to be realistic and we are not going to set goals which we don’t think we can achieve.

“We know it will be a challenge.” but we will give it our best shot to finish as high in the league as we can