Russell Martin has been keen to establish a leadership core at Southampton this season after this has proved an issue at the club for a number of years.
Shortly after being appointed as manager last summer Russell Martin decided to make Jack Stephens captain of Southampton.
However, Stephens suffered an injury last season that saw him miss the majority of the first half of the campaign and Adam Armstrong was the player chosen to don the armband in his absence.
Stephens has continued as captain this season but after his reckless red card against Manchester United Taylor Harwood-Bellis was named captain in the Carabao Cup triumph over Everton last week despite being just 22.
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With Stephens serving the second match of his three-game ban in the 1-1 draw with Ipswich Town on Saturday it was summer signing Flynn Downes who captained the Saints rather than Harwood-Bellis.
Flynn Downes opens up on captaining Southampton against Ipswich
Downes and Harwood-Bellis both signed permanently for Southampton this summer after playing key roles in getting the club promoted whilst on loan last season.
Downes is a real favourite of Martin’s, with the Saints boss desperate to reunite with the midfielder he managed at Swansea City last season before bringing him to St Mary’s permanently for £18 million this summer.
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Downes has established himself as a fan favourite in his time at Southampton and has spoken of his delight at being named captain, whilst acknowledging the fact it was strange that it came against the club at which he came through the academy and also captained in Ipswich.
Downes said post-match: “It was a bit of a bad one! [to do it against Ipswich].
“But to captain this club, with all them boys and all the staff, in front of all the fans, it was a real honour in my career, probably the biggest one I’ve had.
“It was a pleasure, and it was funny doing it against them.”
Downes led by example for Southampton against Ipswich
Downes will have been helped in captaining the side by the wealth of experience of 36-year-old Adam Lallana who was making his first league start since returning to the club.
Downes can reflect on a really strong performance against his former club in which Southampton were very unlucky not to pick up a first Premier League win of the season.
The captaincy certainly did not seem to weight heavy on the 25-year-old, with Martin full of praise when asked about Downes’ performance as captain, saying: “I thought he was good, I thought he was really, really good. I thought there were some brilliant performances on the pitch.”
With Stephens still suspended, Downes will expect to again wear the armband for a huge south coast clash with Bournemouth next Monday.