IT’S two decades since Eidur Gudjohnsen kicked off his football career in Iceland and by his own admission there aren’t many boxes left to tick.

League titles in England, Spain and the Netherlands, a Champions League winner’s medal with Barcelona, and more than 600 games for club and country, what more is there to experience for the man who has experienced everything, besides perhaps a World Cup finals?

The answer was found on a freezing cold Tuesday night in Bolton, in front of nearly 13,000 fans.

Before the game against Fulham, Neil Lennon approached the Icelander to ask if he would wear the captain’s armband – and from there on in, the evening was transformed.

“There is something about being captain and I felt it, even at my footballing age,” he told The Bolton News. “It’s strange, difficult to explain. I’m just delighted we got the win.

“I thought I’d done it all in football but then you get something like this come along. The game can always surprise you.”

Gudjohnsen had never been captain at Bolton but is no stranger to the responsibility.

And even though he was the seventh player to fulfil the role this season for the Whites – following in the footsteps of Adam Bogdan, Jay Spearing, David Wheater, Barry Bannan, Neil Danns and Matt Mills, who will most likely retain the job after he returns from a knee injury – it did not make the feeling any less special for the 35-year-old.

“I was captain of Iceland for a good few years and wore the armband a few times for Chelsea too. I think maybe I did at Barcelona,” he said.

“But “I always said it felt like coming home when I signed for Bolton, so when the gaffer asked me, I had no hesitation in saying yes.

“It doesn’t matter, or rather it shouldn’t matter (who is captain), but it does give you a special feeling, I can’t hide from that.”

Victory over Fulham lifted Wanderers into mid-table with 16 games to go, and gave Gudjohnsen his third strike of the season, and 150th club goal of his career.

The pace of two games a week in the Championship takes a physical toll on the veteran striker – but he is starting to feel stronger after arriving a for his second spell at the Whites a few months into this season.

“I said initially it would take me a few games and it might be up and down,” he said. “I knew I would have some catching up to do fitness-wise, and it does take me a little longer to recover after games.

“But I’m very proud to have worn the captain’s armband, and especially in the character we showed against Fulham.”

Gudjohnsen believes a spot of soul searching in the days before the Fulham game helped get last weekend’s dismal defeat at Derby out of the system.

And the front man is now hoping the club can continue scaling the table, starting with tomorrow’s clash with Watford.

“When you’ve been on a run like we have, I think the extra games against Liverpool in the cup took their toll,” he said. “We had a few injuries and we needed a bit of luck.

“I thought we made our own. I think Alfie (Adam Le Fondre) got his reward for hard work, he ran his socks off.

“We needed it for ourselves, for everyone at the club. We knew the performance against Derby was not good enough.

“We spoke about it during the week and I was very proud of the performance.

“Now we have to do it again on Saturday against Watford.”

Gudjohnsen will most likely be paired with Le Fondre against the Hornets, and believes the team is ready to start scoring goals again.

“Alfie has been getting into the positions and it was only a matter of time before he got off the mark for us,” he said.

“It took me a little while to suss him out, know where he was moving to, but I think we got there in the end.

“I think we looked quite dangerous towards the end, and once Saidy got into the game he was unstoppable.

“Liam Feeney was like a train – I could name every single player in the team, they were excellent.”