BOSS Paul Groves is vowing to pick the right man to spearhead a possible promotion push as he begins assessing Cherries’ captaincy candidates.

Groves insists he will carefully consider his options after telling Cherries’ players that their work in pre-season will play a key role in his decision.

The Cherries manager was due to start the selection process on Monday after his men reported back for duty at Dean Court.

Groves plans to use pre-season to choose his skipper after becoming the club’s permanent manager during the close season.

Current captain Adam Barrett will be among the contenders having been given the armband by Lee Bradbury last summer.

While Barrett was injured last term, goalkeeper Darryl Flahavan and long-serving utility man Shaun Cooper were both handed the role by Groves.

Flahavan is not guaranteed his place as he is set to battle fellow stopper Shwan Jalal for the jersey and Cooper has left the club after failing to agree a new contract.

Groves told the Daily Echo: “We will go through pre-season, see how things shape up, how players come back and how they train on a regular basis.

“When you appoint a captain, you would like to pick somebody who has the ingredients you feel are correct to take the club and team forward.

“There are a number of players capable of doing that.

“There are a number of candidates and when it comes to choosing, we will look at it closely.

“We will possibly make a decision later in pre-season when we have seen how things shape up.”

Groves confirmed he could look at the candidates by sharing the captaincy duties during pre-season friendlies.

He added: “In pre-season, you use the games for preparation to make sure everything is covered and put in place for the beginning of the season.

“Captaincy and all sorts of different football scenarios will be looked at during those games.”