Craig Gordon spoke of the "huge honour" of becoming Hearts' club captain for a second time.
The 38-year-old goalkeeper has been handed the armband by boss Robbie Neilson for this season after helping the Jambos return to the Premiership after rejoining the club from Celtic last year.
Gordon, capped 57 times for Scotland, skippered his boyhood team during his first spell in Gorgie, where he won the Scottish Cup in 2006 before moving to Sunderland the following season.
Speaking to HeartsTV before the Premier Sports Cup group opener away to Peterhead on Saturday, he said: "Everybody knows I grew up a Hearts fan. To come to the club, to play for them, was always a dream.
"To add on top of that, winning a trophy and getting the captaincy, it's been fantastic to come back here and achieve what we set out to achieve.
"Now, on top of that, to have the captaincy going forward is a huge honour for me.
"Absolutely, it's come full circle. When I left here I was captain, I don't even know how many years ago that was but it was a while ago.
"To come back – it's a special place. It's always a club I've looked out for no matter where I've been.
"It's fantastic to get back here and to take that role on and try and improve and add my experience to the younger players coming through, and try and help the guys round about me, that's the stage of my career I'm at now.
"It's going to be a very enjoyable part of the last few years that I have left to do that and help some of the younger boys come through."
