Martin Allen says whoever captains Barnet against MK Dons on Saturday will be skipper for the new season after rotating the armband through pre-season.

John Akinde, Mauro Vilhete and Bondz N’Gala have all done the job in pre-season so far as, like last summer, Allen assesses the various candidates within his squad before making a final decision.

The Bees head coach has been quick to underline the importance of having captains within the side and in summer signings Kevin Lisbie, Bira Dembele and Tom Champion, he has three players who all led their former sides.

Charlie MacDonald captained the Bees to promotion last season and asked after Tuesday’s defeat by Peterborough United if he had made a decision on his successor, Allen said: “This is such a difficult decision to make.

“John Akinde can lead from the front, Kevin Lisbie can definitely, Yids (Andy Yiadom) can definitely be a captain, (Sam) Togwell has been a captain, Curtis (Weston) has been a captain, Bira (Dembele) was captain at his last club, (Michael) Nelson has been a captain, Stacky (Graham Stack) has been a captain and Tom Champion has been a captain for the last two years. And Bondz N’Gala can definitely be a captain - he is a leader within the dressing room.

“I will have a chat with Stacky and Whit (Adrian Whitbread) to see what they think. For me they are all captains in my little mind.

“I will make a decision on that. The captain on Saturday when we play MK Dons will be our captain,” he proclaimed.

Allen managed the Dons - who won promotion to the Championship as League One runners-up last season - in the 2006/07 campaign and lost in the League Two play-offs to Shrewsbury Town before being named Leicester City boss after just one season at stadium:mk.

Asked if he was looking forward to seeing any familiar faces, he replied: “Very much so. They’ve got some good players and some great people behind the scenes.

“But more than anything, I’m looking forward to our team playing,” he mused.

“I have got to get all of these players up to speed so that they are ready for that first week when we have got three games.

“So, yes it will be nice to shake some of those people’s hands and yes, I am delighted that they are up into the Championship, but my focus will only be about Barnet.”