Ahead of Saturday's opening-day trip to Cardiff City, we got the thoughts of our new captain.
ON BEING MADE CAPTAIN
“It’s a great honour for me and I’m really proud that the gaffer has given me that responsibility. But I feel like I’m a professional and a leader regardless, and that goes for others in the squad. It won’t change how I play, but I can’t lie, I did want the armband and I’m honoured to lead out this team and represent the club in the best possible manner.
"I’ve had some great times at the club, from promotion to staying up on the last day and of course last season was great and shows that we’re making positive steps forward as a club."
ON THE SEASON AHEAD
“I’m not going to sit here and say what we will achieve this season, but it’s a clean slate and our goal naturally is to be up at the top end of the league again.
“We’ve made some good additions in the forward areas, and if we are going to play a front three then it’s necessary to have great options. There's lots of good players here, we've strengthened and I know the lads are looking forward to what's ahead of us."
ON THE STYLE OF FOOTBALL
“I think I’m a technical player so if the ball is on the floor more, it should suit me a lot more. That’s how I’ve always liked to play football. But I did take a lot from last season, it helped shape other areas of my game.
“The gaffer now, wants us to get it down, to be braver with the ball and to go out and attack the league. We’ve got lots of gifted players, certainly technically, so we should do well playing the system that the gaffer wants."
ON PEOPLE DEPARTING
“In football it’s just how it is, where you come in one day and find out someone has left. It’s sad when people leave, but it’s about the club and the here and now. You can’t look back. Like I say, it’s a fresh start for us, and we’ll have fresh bodies, fresh minds and hopefully on Saturday we can get off to the perfect start."
ON FANS RETURNING AND CARDIFF CITY
“The biggest part of scoring a goal is sharing that moment with the fans, and to hear that noise is unbelievable so we are all buzzing to have our fans back with us.
“It’s a great test on the opening day, Cardiff away is a tough fixture, they’re full of Premier League quality but we go there with fresh minds, fresh ideas and looking to get our first three points of the season."
