Chris Hughton: "The formation that I went to was one which served us well in the last period of last season.
"One thing you know about Michael is that he can adapt to most situations. He played a little bit deeper, and he's one you know you can rely on.
"He's a very, very good individual. He's the captain of the team and a big player. They are the things we expect from him.
"He's somebody who has served us very well. He's a big influence whether he's playing or not."There were never any doubts he would be captain.
"It's very important. If I look at what we have in the captain Michael Owen, Nicky Butt, Shay Given, Steve Harper, Geremi and Habib Beye, even though he's not involved, they are very important.
"We have spoken a lot about protecting the spirit we have at the training ground with everything that's going on, and they are hugely important.
"We have had the bonus of Damien Duff having trained this week, and he will come into contention, so with the squad we have got, that's a big plus for us.
"Obafemi Martins trained yesterday, but he has been out for a while and we will assess that one today."