Luke Prosser is delighted, and so proud, to be appointed Colchester United’s new club captain, for the 2016-17 season.

Summer signing Prosser, recruited from Southend, was told of his new role before training at Florence Park, Tiptree, on Thursday morning.

The 28-year-old will therefore lead out the U’s team for the opening day clash at Hartlepool this afternoon, before settling down into his defensive duties in the heart of the back four.

Although he has experience of being a captain, on the odd occasion during his six-year stay at Southend, this will be the first time that Prosser has been handed the arm-band on a permanent basis.

“It came as a bit of a surprise to me, to be honest,” explained Prosser.

“When I signed for Colchester, at this stage of my career, it (being captain) was something that I wanted to achieve.

“I knew coming here that I would be one of the most experienced players, alongside the likes of Ports (Chris Porter) and Lofty (Doug Loft).

“In the back of my mind, I thought I might be in with a chance. But I’ve just been getting on with my football, so it was great when the gaffer (John McGreal) pulled me aside in training today to tell me the news.”

Prosser will be a very vocal captain, perhaps more so than predecessors Porter and Owen Garvan, who wore the arm-band for large periods of last season’s relegation campaign – striker Porter was the club captain until February, when new boss Kevin Keen passed on the skipper duties to midfielder Garvan.

“I am a very vocal player, anyway, regardless of whether I have the captain’s arm-band or not, so I will be a vocal captain,” continued Prosser.

“I’ve always been encouraging to the boys around me, and that won’t change. I guess nothing much will alter, though I might have a bit more to do off the pitch.

“I’d like to think that I play as though I’m captain anyway.

“In fact, on a Saturday there should be 11 captains out there on the pitch, but I’m the lucky one with the arm-band and I’m the lucky one who will be leading the boys out.

“The older players had already taken it upon ourselves to establish a system of fines, and we’ll be sticking to that, both for training and for Saturday match-days.

“The fines are there as a bit of fun, really, to keep the boys on their toes. They are already up and running, and a few fines have been coming in.

“There are obviously the serious ones, like being late for training or on match-day, but there’s some silly ones in there as well, like wearing flip-flops.”