Kevin Nolan has spoken of his pride at wearing the captain's armband on his West Ham United debut.
The midfielder was made skipper by manager Sam Allardyce for Wednesday's 2-1 pre-season defeat by FC Basel as the Hammers' pre-season training camp in Switzerland drew to a close.
Nolan, who was previously made captain by Allardyce at both Bolton Wanderers and Newcastle United, relished the opportunity to lead out the boys in claret and blue on his maiden appearance.
"I was very proud to pull on the shirt," he told West Ham TV. "I was delighted and to be made captain was a nice little touch, too, and I was happy to get through my first 45 minutes.
"I think it showed that at the end of the week, we were a little bit tired. This is the last game here and I think it showed a little bit in our performance. Some of the lads were a bit lethargic.
"To be fair, it was my first game in eight or nine weeks, so I'm delighted to have got through it with no injuries. Hopefully I can push on now and get more games under the belt and it's the first step to getting ready for Cardiff."
Along with his new team-mates, Nolan has enjoyed 6.30am alarm calls over the past week as Allardyce and his staff have worked them harder than many will have ever worked before.
The 29-year-old is well-accustomed to the manager's pre-season training methods, explaining that the early-morning starts and triple training sessions were all aimed at getting the players up to top speed for the opening day of an important season.
"This is what it's for. You've got to find out who is going to be ready for the fight, because it's going to be a fight. It's going to be backs against the walls at times with people lumping balls into our box.
"Everyone has got to raise their game because we're West Ham. We've got to be ready for that. We've got to make sure we're physically and mentally strong and do the business in pre-season so that when it comes to Cardiff on 7 August we're ready and we can hit the ground running."
While the intensive training may have left the players tired at the end of their week in Switzerland, Nolan said the spirit in the squad remained good.
The new No4 has quickly settled into life at the club and has played a central role in both training and the team-bonding activities organised by the staff.
Nolan wants the players to take that same spirit on to the pitch in every game they play.
"Sometimes when you join a club, especially a relegated side, there's a bit of a split in the camp and something has gone wrong, but here the lads are fantastic and there is a great team spirit.
"Hopefully now we can add to that. We can do a few more things during the season and we can get back to where we belong - the Premier League - because that's the main aim and the goal.
"Although these are good run outs for us, the main aim is making sure everyone is fit and ready and raring to go come 7 August."