Marvin Ekpiteta has his say on being stripped of Blackpool’s captaincy

The defender has been much improved since returning from a two-match ban against Hull City on Boxing Day.

The 27-year-old, Blackpool’s player of the season last term, has started the last four games and has looked back to his best at times after enduring a difficult start to the season.

The centre-back’s return to form appears to coincide with head coach Michael Appleton taking the captain’s armband off him.

Gary Madine has now been named skipper, although Chris Maxwell wore the armband against Forest with Madine rested with a slight groin problem.

When asked about losing the captaincy, Ekpiteta told The Gazette: “For me it was good to have the break, to have a restart and get back to what I was doing before and refocus.

“I feel like I’ve been playing well for the last few games and that’s helped the team and given the team that extra push, especially now and with where we are in the league. I feel like that’s vital for the next 20 games.

“I think it’s helped me just focus on my game and I feel everything else has fallen into place so far.

“I enjoy playing with Jordan (Thorniley) but I enjoy playing with all the centre halves. But it’s always good to have a run of games with one player which helps build that consistency.”

Speaking last week, Appleton said his decision to hand the armband to Madine has benefited Ekpiteta’s form.

“I had a conversation with Marv and I told him I want to see the best version of him,” he told The Gazette.

“I didn’t know if the armband was weighing on his shoulders a little bit, because it’s a lot of responsibility to be captain. It’s not just playing on the pitch, there are certain things that need to be organised off the pitch.

“We had a good chat and I told him ‘let me take it away from you for a while at least and you can concentrate on just playing well and showing me the version that everybody saw last season when he won the player of the year’.

“Touch wood, so far, it seems to have worked.”