Whyteleafe boss John Fowler took the armband of his title-winning skipper to ease the burden on his shoulders, and it appears to be working.

Jason Thompson, who skippered Leafe to the Southern Counties East League title last season, lost the captaincy after the 2-2 draw at Three Bridges in mid-September.

Fowler handed it to centre half Dylan Merchant, and although Thompson had it back temporarily for the win at Hythe Town in Merchant’s absence, the popular midfielder will once again step aside when Redhill visit Church Road tomorrow (kick-off 3pm).

Fowler said: “Jason’s performance levels were suffering because I felt he was concentrating too much on what the other players were doing, and not thinking about his own game.

“There is nothing to say he cannot get the armband back, but he needs to get his own game in order first, and judging by his performances in the past few games, that is happening.

"He looks like he is getting back to his best.”

He added: “Dylan may be young, but he is far more vocal on the pitch than Jason, and from centre half he can see a lot more of the game than anyone else.”

The mid-week win at Hythe, on the back of a 3-2 win at Carshalton Athletic on Saturday, lifted Leafe to third in the Ryman Division One South table, and while Fowler can see a bright season ahead, he is keeping his cards very close to his chest.

“We are still being realistic at the club, if anyone had offered us the points we’ve got now at the start of the season, we’d have snapped their hand off,” he said.

“We have a points target in mind that we think will be good enough to secure another season at this level, and we’re fast approaching that.

“There is a good feeling around the club right now, and we even have players turning out for no money, they just want to be part of the scene at Whyteleafe.”

The philosophy is paying dividends as Leafe’s strength in depth continues to improve – as proven by the result at Hythe where leading goal-scorer Greg Andrews came off the bench to hit both goals in the 2-0 win.

“We went to Hythe missing four first team regulars in Dylan Merchant, Jensen Grant, Roscoe DSane and Kieran Kenlock,” Fowler said.

“But the lads who came in were excellent, and now I have a good selection headache ahead of the weekend.”