Barcelona captain Carles Puyol has backed new coach Pep Guardiola to return the club to winning ways.

Guardiola wore the armband in his time with the Catalan giants and, along with Puyol, is one of only two Barca captains to have lifted the European Cup.

"He's a good choice. He's very clear on things and we just have to let him get on with his work." Puyol told Spanish newspaper Sport.

He added: "We all really want things to change after two difficult, bad years and there's nobody better than him to do it.

"Obviously the objective is to get back to winning ways. All I want is to win and for the Barca fans to be happy. That's the most important thing.

"He knows the club better than anyone and he knows perfectly well what the problems are.

"Everything is in his favour. We're really excited that Pep is going to be the coach."

Puyol played alongside Guardiola for two years before the now coach left to join Italian club Brescia in 2001 and he becomes only the third Spanish ex-player to take over as coach at the Nou Camp.