Fulham manager Martin Jol says he gave the captaincy to Scott Parker in order to ease the pressure on Dimitar Berbatov.

The Bulgarian striker was Jol’s second-choice skipper after Brede Hangeland and had the armband while the Norwegian defender has been sidelined in recent weeks.

But Parker was installed as captain for Saturday’s 2-1 defeat against Swansea.

Jol explained: “I wanted to put pressure on other people because Berbatov was captain and he is not very outspoken. He’s quiet.

“Scott Parker is involved in the dressing room and he talks a lot, so I thought it was better to change captains.

“Scott will not necessarily stay as captain. We will have to make a decision on that if Brede is back.”