Football FanCast columnist Jerome Johnstone continues his search for the Premier League's finest players of all time and today the focus of attention will be on the back four. Who will join Liverpool's Stevie G in our own Premier League hall of fame?

Since the very first moment that the gruff voiced Andy Gray and the ever hairy Richard Keys introduced the Premier League to our screens, little did we know what was around the corner - It illuminated a game that to be fair was in desperate need of an injection of life and the Sky's fortunes that have been pumped into the game over the last 16yrs has transformed it at every level and insured that the Premier League would become the best in the world.

We have really seen it all, whether it great games or goals, some of the world's best talent plying their trade in England and for your average neutral football fan you really couldn't ask for more. I know there are a lot of people out there who feel that there is a slow demise in the game in this country. It is a view that doesn't hold much weight in my eyes, especially as we go into the last game of the season with two teams level on points challenging for the title whilst at the bottom we have three teams fighting for 17th spot that will keep them in the Premier League next season - it is entertainment at its best and something that never use to happen in the supposed grand old days.

The Premier League throughout its 16 years has seen some of the finest footballers that this country has ever produced or been brought in from foreign shores. The likes of Scholes, Gerrard and Beckham have been coupled by the arrivals of the likes of Cantona, Zola or a Henry. It is a bottomless pit of talent and Football FanCast along with the WKD Sports shed are on a mission to find out who is the Premiership player of all time in defence/midfield/striker - it is the most unenviable task as there have been some great players and we will no doubt be accused of some glaring omissions, but that is what a friendly debate is all about.

After yesterday's debate that resulted in Steven Gerrard being considered the Premier League's greatest ever midfielder we have now moved on to the backline in effort to find out who is the Premier League's finest defender. Once again I will provide the three nominations but you guys are the ones who have the final vote and feel free to put us right if the player is not on the list.

Tony Adams: Big Tony was the epitome of a good old fashioned English centre half. Strong in the air, tough tackler and his positional sense was immense. Adams to be fair never got the appreciation he deserved outside of N5 and that had much to do with the stereotypical image that Arsenal had at the time. It wasn't until Arsene Wenger came to the club that neutrals started see what gunners fans always knew about their inspirational skipper was about, "Oh he can actually pass a ball" seem to be the measure of acceptance he received. Tony Adams will undoubtedly go down as Arsenal's greatest ever captain and rightly so - a one club man and truly one of the Premier League's finest defenders of all time.

Denis Irwin: Being that Manchester United has been the best team in Premier League history, you can imagine the difficulty I had in finding the right defender. Over the years United has had some wonderful defenders like, Bruce, Pallister and more recent candidates like Gary Neville. I have decided to go for Denis Irwin; the finest full back of his generation and must go down as one of Sir Alex Ferguson's greatest ever signings. He simply personified you would want from a defender in his total consistency, disciplined, relentless work rate and he also could take an excellent set piece.

He struck up a formidable partnership with Ryan Giggs on the left hand side which lasted throughout the 90s and you could argue that he has never really been replaced. He was a wonderful servant for the football club who just went about his job quietly and never really got the full appreciation away from Old Trafford.

John Terry: My final nomination has gone to Chelsea's inspirational skipper. I have chosen Terry simply because he has been the driving force behind the blues in the last 5yrs that has seen them finish consistently in the top 2 in the Premier League. Like Adams, he is a total no nonsense defender, full of heart and desire and isn't afraid to get stuck in. For a relatively small centre half he boasts a tremendous leap and tends to be the dominant force in aerial battles within the Premier League. His abilities with a football are vastly underrated and he doesn't deserve some of the stick he seems to get about his supposed poor distribution. Like the other two nominees JT is a manager's dream and you know you are always going to get 100% from the man. In my opinion it is an absolute travesty that he isn't England captain anymore and the decision to omit him as skipper is about as crazy as Hoddle's infamous decision to give Alan Shearer the captaincy instead of Tony Adams.

Well they are my three nominations but use the vote button for those possible glaring omissions we have made.

It is the debate "Who is the Premier League's greatest defender of all time" that will be discussed on the WKD Sports Shed show on Nuts TV, so submit your vote and comment and get your opinion seen by many.

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