MICHAEL Duff has hailed the player who took his place in Burnley’s defence last season as ‘better than I ever was’.

Duff, who retired at the end of the season at the age of 38, said he saw some of himself in Ben Mee in his enjoyment of the defensive aspects of the game.

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Mee moved across from left-back to central defence after the Boxing Day defeat at Hull last term and remained in that position throughout the Clarets’ 23 game unbeaten run which took them to the Championship title.

Duff also had a spell at full-back when he arrived at Turf Moor from Cheltenham and insists that made them both better players, while he also praised Mee’s aggression when he is dragged into physical confrontations and his ability to do the hard yards defensively.

“Ben is 26, which is the age I came here. He’s got years left yet,” said Duff.

“He is combative, an out and out defender and similarly to me enjoys getting hit by the ball.”

Duff highlighted Mee’s famous block at Reading, when he flung his head at the ball as he lay on the ground to deny the home side a certain goal, as his desire to keep his goal in tact.

CONTINUED: PAGE 39 “He, like the one at Reading, would rather clear the ball off the line with his head than he would score a goal. He’s just got that in him,” said the former Northern Ireland international.

“I see a little bit of Ben in myself. He’s a better player than I am and ever was but he started out as a centre half and moved out to full back which would’ve helped his football ability.

“That helped him become a better footballer but he’s always had those natural instincts to defend. As soon as he moved back into the middle he became a better all round footballer.”

Mee stands at 5ft 11ins, relatively small for a central defender, but after moving inside to partner Michael Keane, who remains a target for Leicester City, he showed that lack of height wasn’t a barrier to wining aerial battles.

Duff believes Mee’s ability to time his leaps and his knowhow of when to get involved in battles is a major strength.

“People mention his size but he’s just played in the Championship for the last three or four years, you get aerial bombardment a lot of the time, and he’s dealt with everything,” said Duff, who hung up his boots after 383 Burnley games.

“He’s come up against some big lads as well. He times it well and he doesn’t get involved in physical confrontations when he doesn’t need to.

“When he does, he’s aggressive and he takes the lot. It’s just his mindset which allows him to do that.”