AHEAD of his testimonial game against Bradford City tomorrow (Saturday, kick-off 3pm), Michael Duff reveals the best players he has played with, and against, during his time at Turf Moor.

Best player played with 

“GARY Cahill would be the obvious, stand-out one. Playing next to him at 18 and now he’s an England regular.

“You could see that.

“I was surprised when he went back to Villa and they let him go.

“Even at 18 he was built like an absolute tank.

“He was quick. I don’t think people realise how quick he is. Well, he was then. He’s 30 now, which makes me feel old!

“Tripps was brilliant. I wouldn’t be surprised if he goes to the Euros this time next year.

“Of all the centre forwards, I think Jay and Ingsy would be a nightmare to play against, as a pair.

“Jay’s big, strong and quick, he can hold it up and play, Ingsy can go one way and another - he’s tricky. “I wouldn’t fancy playing against those two!”

Best defensive partner

“I THINK the record tells you more than anything it’s Shacks.

“The year we got promoted we had the best defensive record, last year we had 10 clean sheets out of the 20 games we played together in the Premier League.

“We didn’t need to talk to each other much on the pitch.

“I talk a lot more than he does but we didn’t need to talk to each other.

“You can read what he’s going to do, whether he’s going to go for the header or drop off and you take your position off him.

“Obviously the gaffer works on the whole shape of the team, but we didn’t really have to work on our partnership, it was natural.

“John McGreal would be another big one. I learnt loads off him, and he helped me off the pitch as well. He was the one who helped with my development and helped me settle.

“Playing every week, with a partner, it would be Shacks.”

Best player played against 

“RYAN Giggs absolutely ripped me when I played for Northern Ireland.

“He played left wing and I played right back.

“I got subbed after 62 minutes and I’ve never been so pleased to see a number 2 go up in my life.

“It was a horrible day. I hit the crossbar after five minutes and it went downhill from there.

“I’ve played against Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Wayne Rooney, but rather than talk about names, the person who made me feel stupid was Giggs.

“I’ve played against a lot of good players, playing internationals as well, but he would be the one that made me feel I was significantly worse than him.”