Russell Martin will be Norwich City's sole captain next season, the club has confirmed.

The captaincy had been split last term, with Martin holding the club duties and Sebastien Bassong named as team captain. However, with Martin's confirmation as the Canaries' team captain for the 2014-15 campaign under manager Neil Adams on Friday night – ahead of Saturday's opening pre-season friendly at Dereham – the two captaincy titles have been reunited.

'Russell is someone who can lead by example, he's an excellent example of how a professional should conduct himself and he's an excellent player as well,' said Adams.

'He is the captain and he's the singular captain this year. I know in previous seasons here there's been a team captain and a club captain – but I think it's better to have one. And Russ is the one I've chosen.

'It's important to stress as well – and I've spoken to Russ and the team about it – that with Russ being the team captain doesn't mean it's a guaranteed starting place every week. He's the same as everyone else in terms of being a squad player. You hope your captain is in the team but he knows if he isn't playing well, then we will pick another captain for the day.

'Results are the only thing that matter – but to get those results you need to set the right examples. Not just on the training ground or in games, but off the pitch as well. The discipline, the wellbeing of players, the way to be a professional – you need someone who does all that automatically.'

Martin will be starting his fifth season at Carrow Road after joining from Peterborough in late 2009, and already has more than 180 appearances in yellow and green – as well as a Championship promotion for City – under his belt

'It's an honour to captain a club of this size and stature, and hopefully have a great season and help us back to where we belong,' added Martin. 'We've got a real good group of honest, hard-working pros here and I think that's going to stand us in good stead this season.

'When you look around going into kick-off, you want to see the person next to you as someone you can rely on and trust.

'It's going to be a battle this year, and I think we've got a team ready and more than able to cope with that.'