Blues Captain To Lead By Example

Jonty has promised to 'lead by example' as he takes on the captain's role for Blues.

Damien Johnson, who was last seasons player-of-the-season, told the official site:

'There is a certain amount of responsibility that comes with being a captain, especially with the age of the squad that we have this season. A couple of more experienced players have come in during the last couple of weeks in Bruno N'Gotty and Radhi Jaidi, while we obviously still have Maik Taylor and Stephen Clemence from last year, but generally the squad is very young.'

'I will try to lead them by example.'

However he is keeping his feet on the ground refusing to take his first team place for granted:

'First and foremost I just want to establish myself in the team again this year. That has always been my priority and it won't change this year. It is important that I don't lose sight of that. It is a big squad now with competition for places. No one is guaranteed a spot in the team.'

Even more promisingly he says that the training has been 'of a higher intensity' due to the new fitness coach adding 'It is a different type of squad this year because the lads are younger and I think the fitness of the group has been noticeably better, with not so many injured players.'

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