Another of former manager David O'Leary's long term injury victims in his first season at Elland Road, Michael was at last proving why Leeds brought him to Yorkshire when he damaged his Achilles playing at Derby in September 2000.

That injury proved to put Duberry out of action for the rest of the campaign, to add to his frustrations over his career.

Michael had a stop start first season following his ?4.5million transfer from Stamford Bridge in the summer of 1999.

A thigh injury sustained at Coventry City in September that year put 'Dubes' on the sidelines for two months and once fully fit he struggled to force himself back into the Leeds first team until late in the season.

The former Chelsea defender would probably still have been at Stamford Bridge now but for the obsession with foreign imports that gripped so many Premiership managers.

However, the arrival of Denmark's veteran international defender Jes Hogh signalled the end of Duberry's career in West London after a constant battle to dislodge French World Cup winning duo Frank Leboeuf and Marcel Desailly from the starting line-up.

Duberry still managed to make 33 total appearances in each of his last two seasons at Chelsea after initially showing his potential during a loan spell at Bournemouth under the guidance of Mel Machin - who has also had Rio Ferdinand at Dean Court on a similar deal.

O'Leary's swoop for the Londoner was completed with minimum fuss and he admitted that the three qualities he looks for in a centre back - pace, aggression and strength - were clearly visible in Duberry's play.

His involvement in the infamous Bowyer-Woodgate trial has also hindered his career at Elland Road.

Always a bright spark around the training ground, Michael refused to get downcast about his stop-start spell at Leeds and shrugged off speculation about his future and battled hard for a place in the side.

Last season he has managed to achieve that despite coming into the side in a 6-1 thrashing by Portsmouth.

He had looked set to join Wolves in pre-season, but manager Kevin Blackwell decided he wanted to keep him at Elland Road after he "displayed the right kind of desire" to play for the club.

Michael has plenty of competition for his place but when at the top of his game is more than capable of holding off all challenges.