NEW Burton Albion first-team captain Jake Buxton is honoured to be named captain and is hoping to be an example to his teammates on the pitch.
Buxton who will share the role with club captain Shaun Barker said: “I was over the moon when the manager asked me about doing the role and combine it with Barks, it’s an honour to be aged 32 and named the on field captain."
Captaincy is nothing new to Buxton who previously was vice captain at the likes of Mansfield Town, Derby County and most recently Wigan Athletic: “I have experience of being vice-captain, it’s all about supporting the club captain on and off the pitch, I will try to lead by example on the football pitch. I try and show as much character and belief before ability and I will always put the lads before myself and that’s probably why the manager has asked me. The responsibility is not just on myself, we have a group of experienced heads around the dressing room.
“We have the likes of Stephen Warnock, Ben Turner, John Brayford, Jamie Allen and Kyle McFadzean who have all been captains before, it’s important that it is just not one person standing up and everyone is vocal in the dressing room. We obviously have a club captain and we have a committee of three or four under him with the experienced pros keeping the team spirit in day in and day out in the dressing room, putting people in their place if needed and keeping the togetherness going throughout the group which us going to get us through the season.”
Buxton also paid tribute to former captain John Mousinho who recently left the club to join Oxford United: “John Mousinho’s role was phenomenal during his time as captain, he took a lot on as club captain and had great success in his three years with the club. It makes sense to spread the workload that he did amongst between three and four people. He was with the side for back-to-back promotions and the sides first ever season in the Championship.”