Town striker George Hirst says it was a ‘huge honour’ to be handed the captain’s armband by Blues boss Kieran McKenna during the 1-0 FA Cup defeat to Wrexham.

On his 109th appearance for the club, Hirst skippered for the first time in his Town career as regular captain Dara O’Shea was handed a rare rest from the start during a break from Championship action.

As one of the longest-serving members of the squad who played an integral role in back-to-back promotions from League One to the Premier League, Hirst was delighted to be given the opportunity.

“Super proud,” he said. “I love every minute of being here since the second I walked through the door. I’ve seen a lot of people come and go, to still be here and the gaffer giving me the chance to captain the side tonight was a massive honour.

“It’s not something I’ve done in men’s football, I’ve done it when I was a bit younger. In men’s football, that’s a first.

“The boss pulled me last night, we were just sat having a chat about a few things, watching a few clips from certain games and going through a few bits and bobs.

“He told me that he sees me as a leader in the group and I try to be that every single day. He said I was going to captain the side, so I slept pretty nice.”

Asked what his style of captaincy is like, Hirst continued: “I’m not the biggest screamer and shouter, I try and say what needs to be said.

“After one game of being a captain, I don’t really know what kind of captain I am. It’s hard to say, you’re better off speaking to DOS [O’Shea] or someone who has been captain a hell of a lot more times than that to figure that one out.

“I just try to do as best as I possibly can, get the boys going before the game and make sure the warm-up is where it needs to be. You pick little things up off DOS and captains I’ve played with before.

“If I can show my quality and my work rate, especially being a striker leading the line, hopefully all the boys will follow on with that.

“I can’t really remember what I said, to be honest. It was just to refocus the boys, get them going again and make sure we started quick, which I think we did. It was a shame not to get the result tonight, but that’s football and we’ll come back here next week.”

Defeat at the Racecourse Ground meant Kieran McKenna’s side were unable to reach the fifth round of the FA Cup in successive campaigns following their run to the last 16 last season.

Josh Windass scored the only goal of the game, turning in Ryan Longman’s recycled cross from the right on an evening where the Blues failed to register a single shot on target.

With a second trip to North Wales to follow next weekend in league action, Hirst is hopeful that Town can recover and get revenge on the Red Dragons after the initial disappointment of exiting the FA Cup.

“You want to go as far as you possibly can in any competition,” the Scotland international said. “The good thing about football and especially this little period is we get to come back here next week and put tonight right. That’s going to be the focus for everyone this week.

“I think it was the game we expected. The first half, we got a good start, controlling the game and whatnot, but I think we fell off a little bit with the second balls and winning a few duels and that’s how they want to get a foothold in the game.

“We withstood a lot of pressure, especially when they’re having corners one after another. I think we took a little bit too long to get out of that phase. The second half, we gave it a really good go and we were unlucky with a few moments.

“We want as many games as possible. We’ve got a competitive squad, and the more games we have, the more minutes everyone is going to have.

“Now we just have the league to focus on, and it just increases competition throughout and everyone’s going to be hungry to get themselves into the team.”

Asked whether the result could have a bearing on next week’s clash, Hirst added: “It can do if we use it in the right way. Nobody likes to lose a game but there’s lessons to be learnt and things we can learn from tonight and take into next week to make sure we’re better and get the result that we want.

“I think we had the chances. On another day, they all go in the back of the net and you win the game comfortably, but that’s football sometimes.

“We’ve got the luxury of being able to come back next week, unfortunately not in the cup, but in the league, and we’ve got a chance to go and put three more points on the board.”

Photo: TWTD