The experienced 30-year-old full-back – who can also play in the heart of defence – arrived at Holker Street last week, following his summer release by Notts County.
A former French Under-19s international, Audel made 44 appearances for the Magpies in the Football League, and has played in the National League for both Macclesfield Town and Lincoln City.
His wealth of experience – which also takes in spells at Italian sides Triestina and Pisa – is sure to be a boon to the Barrow defence, and Cox hailed his class, evident in his debut against Boston, despite the defender not having had any pre-season up to that point.
“As a defender, if you looked at him against Boston on Saturday, he had done no pre-season, no conditioning, but he went in and played 80 minutes of a game,” said Cox. “We had to bring him off in the end because of cramp.
“In a game of that intensity, with that physical nature, he looked a Rolls Royce.
“He is physically an athlete, he has the knowledge and the experience that we are looking for – he’s the kind of player I am looking to add to the squad now.”
He added: “We’ve brought Thierry in as a full-back. You look at the majority of his games from last year, he played as a right-back for Notts County, and he has played the majority of his career there.
“But one of the many plusses of Thierry is his ability to play in many positions – he can play at left-back, and he is more than adequate at centre-half as well.”
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