Middlesbrough's stand-in captain Emanuel Pogatetz is determined to hang on to the job on a permanent basis.
Boss Gareth Southgate handed the Austrian centre back the armband when former captain Julio Arca was dropped after Boro's FA Cup defeat to Cardiff.
"I'm very proud to captain the club," Pogatetz said in the Middlesbrough Gazette.
"The manager made the decision to give me the armband and I'm happy to lead on and off the field. "It's the manager's decision but I hope I will keep the armband. I've spoken to him and he said he is very happy with the way I'm leading the team as captain." When Pogatetz first arrived at Boro from Bayer Leverkusen he quickly developed a reputation as a hot-head and was given the nickname 'Mad Dog' by coach Steve Harrison.
But the defender insists he is now older and wiser and his Mad-Dog days are behind him.
"I always say the same thing, it's first of all tough to come to a new country and play football and get used to different things," he added.
"Now I'm also three years older and between 23 and 25 can make a big difference.
"My kids are getting older so I had to take more responsibility at home and so things just changed and that is the benefit of experience sometimes.
"I think the move has had an impact on my outlook. If you go to a foreign country and to one of the best leagues in the world, you not only improve on the field but as a person as well I think.
"The Mad Dog is off my shoulders, I don't want to pass it on to someone else now."
