Conor Townsend believes the entire Town squad will need to step up to fill the leadership void left by the departure of former club captain Sam Morsy.
After four years at the club that included back-to-back promotions from League One to the Premier League, Morsy’s free transfer to Kuwait SC was confirmed last week with the Egypt international understood to have accepted a lucrative two-year deal.
While Dara O’Shea is expected to be named as Morsy’s successor as captain, the likes of Conor Chaplin, Christian Walton, Luke Woolfenden and George Hirst have all taken the armband at various points under Kieran McKenna.
Townsend, 32, who joined the club from West Bromwich Albion last summer, has made no secret of the qualities that will be lost from the Blues dressing room, but insisted that there is no shortage of leaders within the Town squad.
"It’s what I tried bringing last season even if I wasn’t playing,” the left-back said. "Skip is a massive part of this football club and leaves with all our best wishes. The opportunity for him and his family is one he couldn’t turn down and he’s left his mark on the football club.
"Like the manager has said, we’ve all got to step up and people have done that. Obviously me being experienced but there’s a lot of lads who have stepped up during pre-season, you can see the leadership qualities in a lot of them.
"It’s a void where not just one person needs to step up, we need to step up as a team. There’s a lot in the dressing room that have listened to that and are stepping up in terms of leadership and that’s good.
"The one thing I have noticed this season is that there is leadership coming from all over the pitch, right from the top and that’s a positive.
"We’re going to need leaders out there because times get tough in games and we’re going to need strong leaders to try and pull us through.”
Town’s latest arrival brings plenty of leadership and experience, with veteran Ashley Young joining the Blues on a free transfer after his release from Everton.
Still playing at the age of 40, Young has clearly made a promising first impression on the squad after featuring in a Town shirt for the first time in Tuesday’s pre-season victory over Charlton Athletic.
"His career speaks for itself, he’s had such a fantastic career,” Townsend said. "He’s still got that passion for the game and he’s brought that in.
"He’s a leader, he’s got a wealth of experience and it’s up to us as a team and a lot of the young lads to lean on him and use that. I’m sure he’ll be the first one trying to help everyone in terms of that experience.
"A great signing, another great addition and hopefully he can help us do what we want to do. We’ve got good leaders in there and if he can add to that then fantastic.”
Townsend knows another of Town’s summer recruits well, with former West Brom teammate Cedric Kipre joining on a season-long loan from French club Stade de Reims.
There was even the suggestion that McKenna is getting the band back together from the Baggies, with goalkeeper David Button and fellow defender O’Shea also among the Blues’ ranks.
Of Kipre Townsend said: "The manager had a joke about that with me! He’s a fantastic player, you’ve seen he’s so calm and reads the game very well and is physically very good.
"He’s experienced in being in the Championship as well, he’s played in this league, he knows what it’s about and he’ll be a fantastic signing for us going forward.
"One of the big things that we need is depth in the squad and he brings that, we’ve got some fantastic options now at the back. Hopefully we can use that depth in a challenging year.”