The veteran signed in the summer of 2022 as a free agent from Burnley, and now plays for his ex-Clarets boss Sean Dyche.
While Tarkowski knows the club are in financial difficulty, he hopes that shrewd signings can push them up the table next term.
“I’m feeling great in terms of where I am at,” said Tarkowski to club media.
“For me, I want to play as long as I can. I love the game too much, I love being out on the training ground too much, and performing on the weekend.”
“Now I see that my voice matters and people want to listen to what I have got to say on a football pitch and in and around the changing room,” admitted Tarkowski.
“The manager has put that leadership role on me. Seamus (Coleman) is the captain and I’m just in and around supporting Seamus when I can. It is nice to walk out with the captain’s armband on, it is nice for me and my family, but my role doesn’t change either way, with or without the armband.
“I have got a good understanding of how the team needs to work and I just try to show that all of the time.”
“The on-pitch stuff has been better, in my opinion,” he added on the club’s circumstances.
“I know there was a run of games where we hadn’t won for too long, but, when I try to compare where we were last season to where we are now, there are definitely big improvements in terms of the way we are playing, performing, consistency levels and everything else - the culture of the Club, the way players are working for each other all the time. It is a different place.
“Of course, when you put the off-field stuff into the mix, it changes the picture and the talk around it significantly.
“It makes it a difficult situation to play in. We had an initial bounce on the 10-point deduction and won a few games in a row. We suffered a little bit, but it was hard with that uncertainty lingering over you constantly.
“The most important thing was when it mattered, we turned up on the pitch and put in performances.
“We did that for a lot of the season, now we need to keep those levels up going into next season.”