Owen Garvan will lead Colchester United’s survival bid in the coming weeks after being named captain for the “foreseeable future”.

Garvan skippered the U’s in their 1-1 draw with Chesterfield on Tuesday night, after taking the armband from club captain Chris Porter.

Colchester boss Kevin Keen says he wants to free Porter up from the responsibility of captaining the side, as they battle to retain their League One status.

Keen said: “I just wanted to give it a little bit of a tweak and a change.

“I spoke to Chris about it and just wanted to take a little bit of the responsibility off him.

“I thought I’d free him up from responsibility to see if it works.

“Owen was the obvious choice.

“He’s done it before and was the other night, so he’ll be captain for the foreseeable future.”

Porter has struggled for goals of late and boss Keen admits the experienced striker is currently going through a difficult spell of form.

“Chris is wholehearted and gives 100 per cent in every game,” said the U’s boss.

“Whether we are winning or losing, he is one of those who does absolutely everything that he can.

“At this moment in time, things aren’t quite coming off for him and you go through periods like that in your career.

“For him, like for the team, it’s tough, but I’m certain that he will respond well and come back from it.

“He’ll keep working hard and being the team player that he is.”