Darragh Lenihan is expected to take over the club captaincy, as well as leading the team out, following the departure of Elliott Bennett.
Bennett was installed as club captain in the wake of Charlie Mulgrew’s departure on loan in 2019, but saw his influence on the pitch dip last season, managing just nine appearances.
In his most recent two starts, against Barnsley and Sheffield Wednesday, Lenihan kept the armband, a sign of his growing influence.
In the matches Lenihan missed, Bradley Johnson took on the armband for the defeat at Bristol City in December, and at 34 is the most senior member of the squad.
That follows the departure of Bennett to Shrewsbury, and despite his impact on the pitch having decreased in the last 12 months, that off it was a key reason behind Mowbray wanting to keep him around should the chance arrived.
Mulgrew’s departure was always expected, but Rovers have said goodbye to a player who captained them to League One promotion in 2017/18, and regularly for the following season, after taking over from Jason Lowe who left following relegation.
Top scorer Adam Armstrong also led the side twice last season, defeats to Nottingham Forest and Watford, while Lewis Travis wore the armband for the pre-season friendly at Leicester City.
After handing Armstrong the armband in February, Mowbray said: “He’s growing and maturing and he’s had a fair bit to say after some games and I think it was the right thing to give Adam the armband because of the maturity he’s been showing in our team environment.”
The manager called into question the leadership within his team earlier this year, pinpointing the options within his squad, but lamenting their unavailability.
Derrick Williams was name-checked, but has since moved on to MLS side LA Galaxy, with Bennett also departing.
One player not mentioned so far is Daniel Ayala, who managed just 10 appearances last season, but regularly captained Middlesbrough last season and is a player that Rovers will hope for more from in the coming months.
There will be a hope that some of the club’s homegrown players can take on more of a responsibility, Lewis Holtby having been a constant voice when on the pitch last season, but since moved on, though Thomas Kaminski remains, another big presence on the side.
Lewis Travis captained the side in a pre-season friendly at Leicester City last summer and will be expected to take on a greater responsibility, both on and off the pitch, after now clocking up more than 100 appearances.
There is also an intriguing candidate when it comes to the leadership stakes.
Harry Pickering played 44 times in League One for Crewe Alexandra last term, the final 24 of those as a Rovers loanee, after his mid-season transfer to Rovers.
Of those appearances, 29 were leading out the side having come through the ranks, and he believes that experience will help him settle in new surroundings when the squad return to pre-season training this weekend.
The benefit for Pickering is the two days he spent training at Brockhall last month to get himself acclimatised into his new club, and being introduced to his new team-mates, having not been afforded that opportunity when finalising his move on deadline day.
Pickering has said his goodbyes to the Alex, but sees similarities between the club he’s leaving and the one he’s signing for, and has stated his spell as captain will be beneficial to him.
“The way they play, they’ve got similar age in the team to here, a lot of young players and they play attacking football and it’s a massive club so I thought that would be a great move,” he explained.
“They didn’t want to stand in my way, they were happy with it if the deal was right for the club.”
Share