IT was the great Italian stopper Paolo Maldini who once declared: "I was born to defend."

And looking at Blackburn's performance against Chelsea on Sunday I really feel they need someone like that in the team.

Graeme Souness - who was as flat as I've ever seen him after the game - admitted as much when he said they need players who aren't afraid to throw themselves in where it hurts to prevent a goal.

But the fact is no defender should even be thinking about getting hurt when the ball's there to be won. If they are, they're in the wrong job.

I used to think it was fantastic to throw myself and get a block in to stop the other teams from scoring, and not only that people notice it as well.

Look at John Terry. He flung himself into a vital block form Dwight Yorke and, although he's probably the least cultured and skilful footballer Chelsea have, his part in the victory was so important because of that fearless bit of defending.

It's the sort of thing Colin Hendry used to bring to a team and how Rovers could do with a figure like that now - no wonder he was called Braveheart.

I can't honestly believe that Hendry would have allowed Chelsea's winner to be scored. Someone ran past the ball and Glen Johnson had time to bring it down and shoot. It's just a case of attacking the ball when it's anywhere near you and never let it bounce because that's just Sunday pub side stuff.

But we don't seem to have players prepared to do the type of things Colin Hendry used to do - but they're only things that are part of your job as a defender.

In my day players used to be proud of their scars, bruises and broken bones because that's what they got paid to get.

These days you see pictures of players closing their eyes and trying to get out of the way, which is something I hate.

Okay, if someone is shooting from 30 yards, let it go, because a deflection could take it in and it's more than likely it won't go in if you leave it at that distance. But when it's in the box you make sure you get your body in the way.

It was the way Souness used to play so it's no surprise he seems at a loss about what to do about it - I think we all are.

But I started by quoting Maldini and I'll finish by doing the same. He also said that "defending is an art and winning the ball is a skill."

Personally, I used to love taking the ball off people and winning it fairly, maybe even hurting the person you tackled as long as it was fair and honest. That used to give me a real buzz and put me on a high.

But the art seems to have been lost in the modern game somewhere. I referred to John Terry at Chelsea being the type of warrior Rovers need at the back, but how many teams have players like this?

Inspirational centre backs and inspirational midfielders are great to have in your side - but there just aren't that many about.