Socceroos midfielder Jackson Irvine wants to show his ‘inner character’ after being named Hull City captain for the remainder of the Championship season.
Tigers club captain Eric Lichaj suffered a season-ending ankle ligament injury earlier this month, forcing coach Grant McCann to give the armband to someone else.
And he’s passed it on to Irvine who has been one of the club’s most consistent players throughout a rollercoaster 2019/20 campaign.
Irvine led Hull out in a 3-0 defeat to Blackburn Rovers a week ago, before he was skipper again in the weekend’s thrilling 4-4 draw against Swansea City.
“It is a role I look to embrace and bring my own character into the position,” Irvine said in the Hull Daily Mail.
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“We have a number of leaders in the squad, guys like George Long and other players as well who have stepped up into leadership roles.
“At the end of the day, one player wears the armband, but it takes more than that in the dressing room to keep a group together.
“You gauge what individuals need. We have got very capable and intuitive players who are capable of doing that.”
While Hull sit in 17th position and 12 points adrift of the play-offs, Irvine has been a strong performer all campaign.
He has featured in 32 of the 33 league games, scoring two goals and providing one assist.
His quality and experience was a key reason why Irvine was first appointed as vice-captain earlier this season and the Aussie has no qualms about taking on the added responsibility.
“[I was captain] at Ross County and Burton on a few previous occasions and with Australia at under-20 and under-23 level as well, and coming through the youth team at Celtic as well," Irvine, 26, said.
“It is something I have been a part of. It is a role I hope to grow into and bring my own inner character to it as well and try and help the group as much as I can as that is the most important thing.
“I am not really a shouter. But we are not really that kind of group.
“The boys have loud voices and everything like that, but we are pretty calm group in general and like to try and stay composed and have an influence that way.”
Irvine will next lead the Tigers on when they travel to Preston North End on Sunday morning (2am AEDT).
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