Wes Brown

A stylish defender, the Longsight Libero was able to play at both right back and centre back with equal facility, but his career has been blighted by a sequence of debilitating injuries.

Wes Brown's hopes of a World Cup place took a massive blow in December 2001 when he tore medial knee ligaments.

His determination meant he returned before the end of the campaign though, and he made the trip to the Far East at the expense of the injured fellow Manchester United defender, Gary Neville.

Although Wes had the ability to fill Gary's right back berth, he could also provide quality cover in his more familiar central defensive role.

By this stage of his career, the Manchester-born defender had already experienced the best and worst of the game.

He had won a Champions' League, six Premier League, one FA Cup and one League Cup winners medals with United but he has also endured a 15-month absence after rupturing a cruciate ligament in 1999 - an injury that nearly ended his career.

At that time, Wes had already made his international debut (in Hungary) after only 22 club games.

His contract at Manchester United was extended to June 2008 in November 2004 then to June 2012 in April 2008.

Wes joined Sunderland in July 2011 with a four-year contract that was extended to June 2016 in June 2015.

He joined Blackburn Rovers in September 2016 with a contract to June 2017.