Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi admits he originally rejected the captain's armband last season.

The stopper eventually took on the captaincy when needed, but only after senior teammates if they were comfortable with it.

“I refused it. I didn't want it," Guéhi recalled to Palace's website.

“I said no out of respect for the players there at the time, the senior lads. I didn't feel like I could take it or that I should take it because there are players that have had bigger careers than mine, played football for longer than me and are senior members in the team.

“When some people have been at the club for a lot longer than you it's sometimes natural for them to take on the armband. Just because I arrived in that summer window it was almost foreign to me to think I could be up for that, that title and responsibility.

“I had to go around making sure it was okay for me to have. I think that's really important from my point of view because you never know how people will react when they see a younger lad take the captain's armband. For some people it doesn't mean too much and for some people it means a lot.

“[Luka Milivojevic and James McArthur] said: 'Take it, just take it.' Literally just: 'Take it, it will be good for you. Take it, take it.'... From then on it was great, speaking to other senior members as well… They knew it would be a good thing for my career.

“When you wear the captain's armband it represents many things: you're representing your teammates, the club, the fans: when they see you wearing that it means a lot. For me I needed to make sure that I was okay with it or at least that I did it in a way that was respectful to every single person… To be wearing the armband for a club like Palace is an amazing feeling."