PLAYER PROFILE

Lucas Neill

Position: Defence

Height: 6'1

Weight: 12st 8lbs

Date of Birth: 1978-03-09 Sydney, Australia

Lucas Neill

Lucas Neill joined Blackburn Rovers from Millwall for £1million in 2001, and quickly established himself as one of the best full-backs in the Premiership.

Graeme Souness swooped for Neill in September 2001 after the Aussie star impressed in a trial at Ewood Park and he has gone from strength to strength since arriving, making the right-back position his own. He came of age in 2002/03 making nearly 50 appearances for the club.

Although players tend to shy away from the title, Lucas truly is a Mr Versatile. He has been known to play in defence, midfield and attack, but seems to have found his true vocation at the back. His incisive attacking instinct and ability to use the ball is what marks him out from the rest.

Lucas arrived on English shores back in 1995, joining Milwall as a teenager from Aussie club AIS. But as the seasons wore on with the Lions, it became clear that he was destined for the bigger stage and, buoyed by reputed interest from a host of Premiership clubs, Lucas handed in a transfer request in August 2001. Neill started the 2003/04 season with a bang when he caused a national outrage, following a tackle on Jamie Carragher in the 3-1 defeat to Liverpool in September, which broke the Liverpool star's leg. A war of words broke out between Gerard Houllier and Souness, as Houllier tried to blame Neill. Souness was having none of it, and insisted: "It was not a nasty game, Lucas Neill is not a dirty player and there was no viscious intent in the challenge."

Neill was sent off again a few weeks later, again against Liverpool when the two teams met at Anfield in the Carling Cup, and was consequently forced to sit on the sidelines for another two-game suspension.

He put all that behind him though, to continue as Blackburn Rovers' faithful defensive servant as his 2004/05 season proved to be one of his most successful yet. He played 44 games and scored once - a 3-1 defeat against Fulham.

Once more he was a mainstay in the 05/06 season, playing forty-two times and increasing his goal tally to three. During the summer he went to Germany to play for Australia in the World Cup, where they scored and progressed to the second round for the first time in their history.

However, disaster struck in the second round game against eventual winners Italy, when Neill gave away the decisive last minute penalty which knocked the Aussies out.

The 2006/07 season saw Neill strongly linked with a move away from Ewood Park, with Liverpool seemingly favourites. However, in January 2007 he joined West Ham United for an undisclosed fee.

He struggled with injury during his first half-season with the club and will be hoping to avoid such troubles in 07/08.