Striker Rob completed a move from Sheffield United in a deal worth £1.75m early in July 2008 and put pen to paper on a three-year contract.

Hulse began his career with Crewe Alexandra where he came through their fabled youth system and progressed to the first-team under Dario Gradi.

A tally of 47 goals in 129 games alerted numerous clubs but West Bromwich Albion snapped him up in the summer of 2003 for £750,000.

Hulse played a vital role in helping the Baggies win promotion to the Premier League in his first season before going on to feature seven times in the top-flight.

He spent the last three months of 2004/05 on loan to Leeds United and completed a £1.1m move to Elland Road that summer.

A further 14 goals followed as Leeds reached the play-off final but a return to the Premier League arrived with a move to Sheffield United for £2.2m in July 2006.

Hulse was earning plenty of plaudits for his top-flight performances with the Blades and had netted eight goals before his season was cruelly ended by a badly broken leg sustained at Chelsea.

He returned to action in December that year and featured a further 24 times, mainly as a substitute.

Hulse's overall career record stood at 92 goals in 289 games before he joined Derby.

And he broke his Derby County duck in typical footballing style with the winner against Sheffield United - his former club - to earn his new employers their first league victory in almost 12 months.

The good form continued over the following weeks and he was named as the Coca-Cola Championship's Powerade Player of the Month for October after a run of four crucial goals in five games.

He finished the campaign with 18 goals in all competitions and was the first Derby player to appear in over 50 games in one season for more than a decade, such was his durability and reliability.

It was his goal against Charlton Athletic that secured safety, a fitting way to round it all off on the day he also picked up the Jack Stamps Trophy having been voted the supporters' player of the year.