JAMIE Gleeson believes that wearing the skipper’s armband next season can only be good for new Dorchester Town captain Nathan Walker.

The central defender has taken on the captaincy from Mark Jermyn and Gleeson feels that Walker was the ideal candidate for the role.

And while Gleeson is confident Walker will have no problems leading from the front, he reckons the responsibility of being captain can have a positive effect on his team-mate.

“Nathan is a good, solid centre-half at non-League level and I think it will do him good to be captain,” he said. “I think it’s something he has always wanted.

“It was hard to take the captaincy off Jem when he was around because he did such a good job.

“Nathan is a leader and has got the personality you need to lead a team.

“He can also learn from being captain because there is a lot more responsibility on your shoulders.

“You’ve got to lead by example. You can’t really be shouting at players, you’ve got to help them because they look up to you more.

“Nathan can let his emotions get ahead of him sometimes so I think this will make him a bit calmer.”

While Jermyn left the Avenue for Poole Town last month, Dan Cann had earlier made the move in the opposite direction.

And Gleeson was only too happy to give Cann the lowdown on the Magpies before the striker decided to sign for the county town club.

“I know Dan very well,” added Gleeson. “He rang me before he moved and I told him how it was at Dorchester.

“He’s a handful for other teams and has a great left foot. He backs into defenders and makes it difficult for them.

“If you’re a centre-half he is not a nice player to play against and if you’ve got someone sharp running off him, like Ben Joyce, you would have a good partnership.”

Gleeson is currently busy setting up a new business venture in Bournemouth and planning his testimonial – but things aren’t going smoothly with the latter.

He continued: “I did have Southampton’s under-21s coming down on July 29.

“Adam Lallana sorted it out and got some signed shirts for me, but because of things going on at Southampton it’s all up in the air.

“It turns out that they can’t do the date we set. “It’s gutting for me because we had it all sorted.

“We’re looking at other options now and it may be that I have to wait until the end of the season, but hopefully it will be in pre-season.”