Saddlers armband up for grabs

New defender Mark Hughes led the Saddlers out in their 2-1 friendly win at Rotherham on Saturday but Hutchings insists he has yet to pick his new leader, following the departure of last season's skipper Stephen Hughes along with vice-captains Michael Ricketts and Anthony Gerrard.

England chief Capello handed the armband around in his early games before plumping for John Terry and Hutchings will do exactly the same in pre-season.

The Saddlers boss said: "I would say it's up for grabs, I've got one or two ideas but we'll see how it goes.

"There's no decision at this moment in time. I'm very open minded about it.

"In the pre-season games I might dot it about a bit and see what reaction we get from one or two people. We've got options."

Hughes captained Northampton last season and is in the running, while Hutchings is also considering Dwayne Mattis, Clayton Ince and Rhys Weston.

The manager said: "I know Mark has been a captain but if we get one or two others in I might look differently.

"Clayton could arguably be the captain so there are a lot of possibilities.

"People may have been a little surprised when I gave Dwayne the captaincy at Orient last season and we've also got Rhys, who is an experienced player."

Hutchings would have been pleased with Saturday's outing, as the Saddlers started brightly and Sam Parkin hit the bar with an early header before Rene Gilmartin twice saved smartly from Ryan Taylor.

The visitors had the better of the first half but were on the back foot after the break, when Kevin Ellison prodded wide for the visitors.

But, with 65 minutes gone, Alex Nicholls capitalised on some poor defending from Mark Lynch to slot in.

The Saddlers made it 2-0 with six minutes remaining, when Davies swept in from 18-yards following Richard Taundry's cut back.

But two minutes later the Millers made it a nervy finish, when Tom Pope nipped in between Manny Smith and Ince to lob in from 20 yards.