Blackburn Rovers manager Tony Mowbray has confirmed that Elliott Bennett will take over from Charlie Mulgrew as the new club captain.

The right-back was skipper for the fixture at Craven Cottage at the weekend and Mowbray has now expressed his desire for Bennett to keep the armband.

The 30-year-old is taking over from Mulgrew, after the Scottish international made a surprising move to Wigan on deadline day.

Speaking to the Lancashire Telegraph, Mowbray spoke in-depth about the captaincy and his plans for the future in regards to the decision.

He said: “I think at the moment Elliott Bennett will be club captain while Charlie is away.

“I think he slips in to that role very comfortably, very easily.

“As I’ve said before I like to have a leadership team with the senior players when there are issues that we need to deal with, football issues or club issues or player issues.

“Elliott has been part of that group and I have no problem with him leading the team on the pitch and he’s someone that I can talk to as part of a group of senior players.”

The Verdict

Charlie Mulgrew's leadership is going to be a big miss to this Blackburn side. Despite signing the likes of Stewart Downing and Bradley Johnson, it's never easy replacing a club captain.

In the Championship, there are many different qualities needed to get out of the division. Leadership is one of them. Mowbray expressed at the end of last season that Rovers were targeting promotion this season and the loss of not just a leader, but a big player in Mulgrew will have halted that.

Mowbray will be hoping Bennett can step up into the role and use his experience to help get Blackburn some results over the coming weeks. The uncertainty that was surrounding a key player is sure to have had an impact on the squad in the opening two fixtures.

What Rovers must now do, is become a close knit squad and hope that Tosin Adarabioyo and Greg Cunningham can replace the departed Mulgrew.