Scott Parker explains decision to hand Burnley's Maxime Esteve FA Cup captaincy

The decision to hand Maxime Esteve the captain’s armband for Burnley’s cup tie against Millwall was another key figure in the defender’s development.

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In the absence of Josh Cullen and Kyle Walker, Esteve was the skipper for the day during their third round five-star showing.

Despite 36-year-old Ashley Barnes also being on the pitch, Parker felt it was the right decision to see if the Frenchman was up to the task.

“That was another example of trying to develop an exceptional player, which we all see, and trying to develop this other side as well,” he said.

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“So I gave him the armband when maybe there's a certain guy on the pitch what you'd expect that to go to. But at that moment, Max, I want to give him this responsibility.

“This is something that he needs to improve on, really. We see Max's qualities, for sure. He needs to improve now on his leadership, how he's managing other people, managing players, managing the team, and bringing his voice to that.

Esteve was given the captain's armband for last week's cup game against Millwall (Photo by Matt McNulty/Getty Images)placeholder image
Esteve was given the captain's armband for last week's cup game against Millwall (Photo by Matt McNulty/Getty Images)

“He deserves to be captain, for sure, and the development of him as a human, in terms of leading a group, leading a group onto the pitch, and managing those situations and I thought he did that extremely well.”

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