Captaincy a proud day for Deeney

TROY Deeney presumed Birmingham City’s kitman had made a mistake when he discovered the captain’s armband at his seat in the dressing room on Saturday.

Boyhood Bluenose Deeney was handed the captaincy by Lee Bowyer for the match against Swansea City after replacing Lukas Jutkiewicz in the starting line-up and responded to score the opening goal before teeing Riley McGree up to clinch a 2-1 win.

It was an emotional day for Deeney, who didn’t find out he would be leading Blues until shortly before the players were due to warm up.

“I came down with a drink, put my drink down and the armband was there,” the striker explained.

“I saw it there and just assumed it was a mistake that it was in my space - and then the manager pulled me to one side and said ‘go and enjoy it’.

“He’s been looking after me which is what real good managers do. Naturally, being home leads to expectation, pressure.

“I had to get up to speed. That was only my third start this calendar year since my injury.

“So I’m not at 100 per cent yet, but I feel good and the only way to get fit is more games. The challenge now is to stay in the team and get a run of games.”

On paper, it was a fairy-tale transfer when Deeney joined Blues from Watford in August - but he’s come in for his fair share of criticism in recent weeks.

The 33-year-old has had to bear the brunt of fans’ frustrations, which made his display against the Swans all the sweeter.

“It was a proud moment,” Deeney continued. “Obviously I was so focused on delivering today it didn’t really matter if I was captain or a sub, I just wanted to really make a point.”