STEVE Burr wants Stuart Elliott to rise to the challenge of being handed the captain's armband.

The Northwich Victoria manager has made Elliott skipper for his side's return to the Conference National and put his faith in the experienced midfielder for Saturday's season opener at Cambridge United.

But Burr and assistant Dave Moss say they want 11 captains' in the team and hope Elliott will respond positively to having the extra responsibility on his shoulders.

"In some ways we wanted to calm him down a little," said the Vics boss.

"Stuart has that edge to his game that I like, but if he can channel that natural aggression in the right way and continue to perform like he did last season then he'll be an excellent captain for us.

"But I believe it's not all about who wears the armband, it's about the experience we've got in the side."

Burr pointed to the number of games accumulated by Gareth Griffiths and Tony Gallimore in the football league as evidence.

"That really came to the fore on Saturday when Cambridge were pushing for an equaliser," he added, in reference to Saturday's 1-0 win at the Abbey Stadium.