DEFENDER Angus MacDonald will be Swindon Town club captain for the 2022-23 campaign, head coach Scott Lindsey has confirmed.

The Town boss revealed his choice following the Cardiff City friendly on Saturday, going on to name Ben Gladwin as the club’s vice-captain for the coming season.

Dion Conroy and Jack Payne held the titles last term, however, both have since moved on to other clubs and Lindsey was required to begin his own tenure with a new-look leadership group too.

MacDonald only arrived at the County Ground at the start of the week, but Lindsey stated his choices were largely based on experience and leadership qualities rather than the length of time at the club or who is most likely to play.

Both MacDonald and Gladwin featured for at least 70 minutes of Town’s 4-2 defeat to Cardiff City at the weekend, and the pair may well start Swindon’s League Two opener away at Harrogate Town next weekend as well.

Discussing why the 29-year-old centre-back was selected as captain, Lindsey said: “I think it was quite a straight-forward choice.

“Like you say, he's done that at other clubs and he's a leader. He's experienced, which is massively important, so I think it fits.

“I wanted to go with someone who was experienced, for a start. That's an important factor in my opinion, and he has that in abundance.

“He's played at a higher level, he's been captain before, so he knows the role of being a captain.”

Having known he was going to pick a player with hundreds of football league matches under their belt, Lindsey revealed another aspect he had to consider when choosing his skipper – whether said player could handle the responsibility alongside concentrating on their own performance.

For that reason, the Town boss stated players like Mathieu Baudry, Jonny Williams, and Gladwin might not be the ideal choice.

Lindsey said: “I feel as though I've got good leaders in the dressing room already in Mathieu Baudry, Ben Gladwin - players who have got that experience.

“But I also believe that these players probably need to really concentrate on their own performances at times whereas Angus MacDonald is someone who will thrive under having the captain's armband.

“But I put a lot of thought into it, and I think he'll be a really good leader for us moving forward. He's a good lad too, so I think it's the right choice.”