Travis Cole has officially been appointed Lowestoft Town vice-captain ahead of their trip to Burgess Hill Town this afternoon (kick-off 3pm).

The 19-year-old returns from a three-match suspension for the trip and will skipper the side at Leylands Park in the absence of Rossi Jarvis, who is likely to be sidelined for at least a month with a broken metatarsal.

Trawlerboys boss Ady Gallagher feels the time is right for the former Ipswich Town academy product to take on more responsibilty at the Amber Dew Events Stadium.

'I think Travis shows all the right qualities to be a captain,' he said. 'He is a Lowestoft lad and he has got all the ingredients to make a very good skipper. It's time to give him some additional responsibility at a young age. He's been excellent for us since he came in and he's the sort of player we should be looking to attract to the club and bring through. He's a leader and with Rossi out for several weeks it will be a good opportunity for him.'

Lowestoft go into today's game buoyed by Rory McAuley's last minute equaliser at home to Harrow Borough last weekend. It was McAuley's second goal in as many games but it was the performance of Sam Borrer, making his league debut as a substitute for the injured Callum White, that caught Gallagher's eye.

'I was really pleased with him – it's the first time I think we've had a genuine box-to-box midfielder since Dale Cockrill left the club,' said the Blues chief. 'His fitness levels are still not quite where they need to be and he is still finding his feet. But he gets around the pitch and has that knack of being able to get on the end of things in the opposition penalty area.'

Borrer is likely to get his chance from the start today with Gallagher weighing up several injury concerns. Shaun Bammant is a doubt with a persistent Achilles problem whilst Andrew Fisk continues to be dogged by injury.

'Hopefully we can get one or two back into the squad and we need to start building a bit of momentum,' added Gallagher. 'We've only lost one of our last four and when you get a late point as we did that breeds confidence.'