Shrewsbury Town

Influential midfielder Matt Richards has been named Shrewsbury Town's new captain.

 

Matt, who swept the board in the player of the year stakes last season, skippered the side twice in pre-season friendlies against Leiecester and Wolves and stressed how proud he was to have been handed the armband.

 

Matt, 27, said: "It's an honour to be nicely thought of like that. I'm just happy to be here and I'm enjoying my football. Hopefully that showed on the pitch last year and hopefully I can influence the team.

 

"The gaffer changed the captain around a bit in pre-season but he told me the other day and it was really nice, a good moment.

 

"It's the first time I've been captain properly of a team which is always nice. I'm about that age now where I'm a bit more experienced than others so I'm really happy with it and just looking forward to getting out there now.

 

"I talk a lot anyway on the pitch and get on well with all the lads. Hopefully it can rub off on some of the youngsters and I try to help them anyway in day to day training. 

 

"It's nice to be thought of like that and I'm looking forward to leading out the team and getting the season started."

 

Matt, who counts Ipswich, Brighton and Walsall as his former clubs, added he was now looking forward to captaining the side in a competitive match for the first time when Shrewsbury kick off the season with a Capital One Cup tie at Leeds United on Saturday.

 

"I can't wait for it," he said. "The start of pre-season went really fast but then it's gone really slow and everyone's really eager to get the season under way. Everyone can't wait for Leeds now.

 

"It's going to be a really big game, one we're looking forward to, and it's one we can definitely get a result from. It's going to be hard but it's something we can do.

 

"I've played at Leeds quite a few times and I know what it's like.  

 

"It's a massive ground, a lot of history and they're going to have a lot of supporters there so it will be a good occasion."