Nottingham Forest v Barnsley: Barnsley chief Hill aims to rotate captaincy to ease pressure

The Tykes, who kick off the new season today at Nottingham Forest, sold captain Jason Shackell to Derby County this summer.

Although veteran defender Bobby Hassell will act as a ‘club captain’ off the field, Hill will be passing the armband to a different player every week.

“I don’t feel it is essential to name a team captain,” he said. “I think it can add too much pressure to players.

“I need to be able to change the captaincy as and when it is appropriate. I don’t want it to be nailed to one person only for him to suffer with the pressure of the armband.”

In a recent interview with the Yorkshire Post, the Barnsley manager openly admitted that his own playing career went downhill after landing the captaincy of Blackburn Rovers as a teenager.

“It’s unimportant to me. It seems more important to a lot of other people rather than myself and the players,” he shrugged.

“It’s definitely an English thing. It’s in our DNA if you like and I don’t quite understand why. This season, I’m expecting all the lads to lead in different ways. I have spoken to a few of the players and there’s no rush, no neccessity to name a team captain.”

The Tykes provide the first competitive opposition for Forest since the appointment of former Middlesbrough and England manager Steve McClaren.

McClaren’s last game in English domestic football was as manager of Boro against Fulham in the Premier League five years ago.

He waved farewell to the Teessiders a few weeks later when losing in the UEFA Cup final to Spanish club Seville.

Now back after a disastrous England reign and spells in both German and Dutch football, McClaren’s return is likely to command the national spotlight but Hill says: “If we can cut out all the sideshows, it’s just about business. And business is playing over 90 minutes to try and get as many points as you can.

“They have an ex-England manager who knows what he wants to do and has been very successful. It’s going to be a difficult game and we are looking forward to it. But we don’t play against the media, we don’t play against all the speculation, and I don’t play against Steve McClaren’s interviews.”