Mickey Demetriou says it will be an honour to wear the captain's armband for Crewe Alexandra.

The defender, who signed a new contract at Mornflake Stadium this week, will skipper the side in the absence of injured duo Luke Offord and Christopher Long.

Demetriou said: “It’s an honour and I can handle it. Successful sides have more than one leader anyway, and there are a lot of captains in our dressing room.”

The 33-year-old also made it clear that Offord will remain a big part of The Railwaymen’s promotion push.

He added: “I’m absolutely gutted for Luke. As soon as he hit the floor I knew it was serious because he doesn’t stay down.

“It shows his character that he tried to play on and went for a jog down the touchline. Now we know what he had done – how did he even manage to do that? 

“He’s a massive player for us and a massive character in the dressing room, but he still will be. He is our captain and we will get around him, and get him through his rehab. He will be with us from the sidelines.”

Manager Lee Bell says he had no hesitation in making Demetriou skipper for the upcoming games.

He explained: “He will lead the team out with Luke and Chris being injured – but Mickey doesn’t need an armband to be captain. I don’t think it will alter how he goes about the games.”