CANICE Carroll is enjoying the leadership role he has within the Oxford City dressing room after skippering the side in midweek.
The Hoops fell to a late 3-2 defeat at home to Scarborough Athletic, a result which saw them miss out on a place in the first round of the Emirates FA Cup.
With Reece Fleet unavailable due to injury, Carroll captained City on Tuesday night.
He said: “I want to be as good as I can as a leader. We’ve got a good group of myself, Fleety, Josh Parker, Alfie Potter – a good group of experienced boys that know what they’re doing.
“It’s not just one person that leads this team, it’s five or six, and the rest follow.
“I look at myself as a leader, but we’ve got probably one of the best players in our team who’s skipper in Fleety.
“He’s got such good quality, and he puts his foot in and gets stuck in.”
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Hoops head coach Ross Jenkins has added new faces to the squad in recent weeks, with Mitchell Roberts and Rafferty Pedder handed debuts in the 3-0 win at home to AFC Fylde earlier this month.
Versatile defender Roberts was released by Birmingham City in the summer, and enjoyed loan spells with Oldham Athletic and Solihull Moors last season, with midfielder Pedder arriving on loan from Queens Park Rangers.
“Mitchell’s a good player, he’s got good quality and we see it in training,” said Carroll.
“You can see it in games, he was great against Fylde.
“Then we’ve got Pedders, who’s come from QPR and is a tidy player who wants to play football.
“As much as we want to keep the group together, if the group’s not doing good enough, then the manager will get players in that he thinks can do it. It’s his job and we’re a team, we know that.
“It’s good to get these new boys in because they’re good lads and they’re good footballers. They’ve got a good stage here to perform.”
Carroll has been sporting a protective mask to shield a facial injury, and while he admitted it’s uncomfortable, he accepts the situation for what it is.
He said: “It’s not fun, but it’ll do the job and it gets me through games.
“I’ll have to keep wearing it for however long I have to wear it.
“It’s a bit of a weird one trying to play with it, but it should be fine for the foreseeable.”
City return to Vanarama National League action with a trip to fifth-placed Bromley on Saturday. The Hoops will be able to call upon the services of Parker, who has been away on international duty with Antigua and Barbuda.
Carroll said: “Josh is a massive player for us, he’s got a lot of experience and a lot of quality.
“Josh will be good to get back into the group, but we can’t rely on just Josh Parker.”
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