Sadler honoured to be given Crawley captaincy (From The Argus)

Sadler honoured to be given Crawley captaincy

1:00pm Tuesday 19th March 2013 in Sport By Steve Hollis

Mat Sadler has spoken of his pride at becoming Crawley's fourth captain of the season – but hopes to hand back the armband straight away.

Sadler led Reds out at his former club Walsall on Saturday with regular skipper Josh Simpson still sidelined by an ankle injury and stand-in Dannie Bulman starting on the bench.

The former Birmingham defender looked set to celebrate with a well-deserved three points until the Saddlers scored twice inside three minutes in the dying moments of the game to salvage a point.

Simpson – who took over as captain from Gary Alexander when he joined AFC Wimbledon on loan in January – is battling to be fit for the home game against Crewe this weekend meaning Sadler could be back in the ranks again.

Sadler said: “The gaffer pulled me aside a couple of days before the game and told me I was going to be captain and it was a really big honour for me. The only thing that could have made it better was if we could have won.

“I’ve never captained a side before, except in youth football, so it was nice. I have had the armband at the end of a couple of games when Bully (Dannie Bulman) has gone off but this was the first time from the start of a match.

“The fact it was at my old club where I still have a lot of friends and people I respect and my family were all there to watch too just made it even more special. I really enjoyed it and hopefully I can do it many more times in the future.

“But I would happily give the armband back on Saturday if it meant Josh was fit again. That is the priority so hopefully Josh will be back and pushing for a place in the team as we have missed him.”

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