Burnley boss Scott Parker explains fascinating reason why he gave CJ Egan-Riley captain's armband
Handing CJ Egan-Riley the Burnley captaincy was a way of overseeing the next stage of his development, according to Scott Parker.
In the absence of Josh Brownhill, and with Josh Cullen starting on the bench, the 22-year-old was given the armband on Saturday ahead of the likes of Ashley Barnes as Burnley overcame Southampton 1-0 in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
The centre-back has been a revelation for the Clarets this season, but Parker feels Egan-Riley could take on even more “responsibility”.
The Burnley boss also confirmed it was always the plan to bring off Egan-Riley on the 60-minute mark, when he was replaced by Maxime Esteve.
“We were managing minutes a little bit,” he said.
“We went into the game obviously knowing that we were going to have to manage some minutes with Wednesday coming up or with players obviously coming back.
“CJ was well worthy and deserved the armband though. Since I've been in here, he's been superb and we see his qualities on the pitch and he's developed.
“CJ's facing different things every single week due to his inexperience and every time you give him a challenge or that challenge comes, he faces it and normally comes out the other end of it.
“This was another big challenge for him, leading out the team for the first time. I was trying to give him and add some responsibility onto him and what that brings and how he adapts to that.
“I'm glad that he’s done that today and no doubt we'll start nudging along those leadership qualities with him.”