Tough-tackling, strong in the air and fast on the deck, Wes Brown is one of England's finest defenders.

He's not the most fortunate though. Surely his club and country appearance totals, while impressive, would be far higher had it not been for his awful luck with injuries.

Wes enjoyed arguably his best season in 2007/08 as a key member of Sir Alex's miserly back four. Replacing the long-term injured Gary Neville at right-back, he played in more matches than any other player on the road to winning the Barclays Premier League and Champions League. Wes also enjoyed the personal fillip of a new

four-year contract in April 2008, signed almost ten years after his debut.

That debut was the culmination of a meteoric rise through the ranks at Old Trafford - signing as a trainee in July 1996, he put pen to paper on professional forms four months later. In this first full season, 1996/97, he picked up the Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year award. Towards the end of his second campaign, he made his senior bow as a sub against Leeds United on 4 May 1998, and a first start against Barnsley a week later.

Brown's performances in 1998/99 caught the eye, but knee-ligament injuries ahead of the