Stuart Whitehead looks set to retain the AFC Telford United captaincy for the 2010-11 season – providing he is available.

The experienced centre-back may miss Saturday’s Blue Square Bet North opener against Hyde because of work commitments.

But he has impressed boss Andy Sinton during pre-season, and is likely to keep hold of the armband he wore for much of the last campaign.

A number of contenders are in the frame for the job should he miss out, with Shane Killock, Jon Adams and Steve Abbott all having taken on the role during friendly matches.

“When Stuart has played he’s had the armband and he’s done well enough that when he is available, he will probably play,” Sinton revealed.

“When he’s not played, Shane Killock has had the armband and he’s shown he is a good leader.

“But we’ve had a few others who have taken turns during pre-season and it’s something we’ll look at again after our final friendly against Wolves tomorrow.”

Meanwhile, Sinton had his whole squad in for an internal match among themselves at the New Bucks Head on Saturday.

“We have 19 players a full 90 minutes and it was very competitive,” he said.

“We played three half-hours and I mixed the teams around a bit.

“Everyone came through unscathed. Andy Brown’s hamstring was a bit tight so we only gave him half an hour but he’ll hopefully be okay.

“He might get a short run-out tomorrow and then we’ll look to Saturday.”

By Chris Hudson