In March 2012, Shaun Barker's knee was wrecked in a manner you might think was the result of a high-speed car crash.

As the Derby County captain attempted to clear a cross in the six-yard box, in a game against local rivals Nottingham Forest, his goalkeeper Frankie Fielding came to claim the same ball.

Their freakish collision ruptured every ligament and tendon in Barker's knee - anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments, lateral and medial collateral ligaments, and patella tendon - and chipped a hole in his tibia the size of a 50p piece.

Shaun Barker returned to competitive football after four-and-a-half years on Friday night as he took to the field as a substitute for Burton Albion

Barker sustained a terrible knee injury while playing for Derby at Nottingham Forest in 2012

The defender collided with goalkeeper Frankie Fielding and his knee buckled beneath him

Forest forward Marcus Tudgay consoles Barker in the aftermath of the incident

Barker's entire knee joint had to be clunked back in place as he lay motionless on the pitch.

To outsiders, the idea that he would ever return to play professional football again seemed ludicrous. And as time passed, that sentiment only grew.

On Friday night, however, after five operations, 30 aspirations (to drain fluid from his knee), a year without a club or income, a testimonial with Derby that seemed as though it had surely signalled the end of a long and stubbornly trodden road, Barker proved all of his doubters wrong.

In the 93rd minute, he entered the field of play for Burton Albion in his first competitive appearance for four-and-a-half years - a 1-0 victory over their closest neighbours, you guessed it, Derby.

A further note of poignancy is the fact that Burton's manager, Nigel Clough, also Barker's boss at Derby, clearly holds great affection for his former captain.

Friday's win was also the first time Clough has faced Derby since they sacked him in 2013.

The process of recovery has been long and painful for the 33-year-old

Just before Barker came on he asked the man he has seen as his 'gaffer' throughout it all: 'You want me to pick up?'

'He said: "No, just head the ball. The ball's gonna come into the box; just head it, that's all I want you to do."

'I came on and they won a corner; Scott Carson was up, we were overloaded by two. The lads were screaming at me to pick up and I said "no I'm just gonna stand here and head the ball."

SHAUN BARKER: FACTFILE Date of birth: September 12, 1982 Age: 33 Clubs: Rotherham, Blackpool, Derby, Burton Appearances: 388 Goals: 21 Honours: League One play-offs (2007) Advertisement

'The ball came in and I headed it away. I think he (Clough) wanted that moment for me. And maybe for him a little bit as well.'

Barker's recovery is an extraordinary feat of perseverance, resilience and belief.

Looking back on the devastating moment that left his career, and knee, hanging by a thread, he said: 'I heard a snap, and a shooting pain went straight through my body.

'I thought I'd broken my leg in two. I heard a few lads screaming to the physio, so I knew my leg didn't look great. I was looking into the Forest end in front of me and all their fans were laughing and jeering; Derby County captain, lying there.'

Derby's physio Neil Sullivan said the moment surgeon Andy Williams opened up his knee and saw the full extent of the damage, he took a step back and shook his head in disbelief. Incredibly, though, Barker was told he could be back playing in 18 months to two years.

Barker had to undergo five operations after rupturing every tendon and ligament in his knee

The defender, then 29, also had to recover from a hole in his tibia the size of a 50p piece

But he is now fighting fit and trying to restart his career with Championship new boys Burton

Barker, pictured playing for Derby at QPR in 2011, spent a year without an income

There were eight days in hospital and more morphine than he can remember following his surgery. Then came a month sleeping on his living room floor and peeing into a bucket because he couldn't get upstairs to the only bathroom in their house.

For the next three months he spent 12 hours a day enduring the monotony of a CPM (continuous passive motion) machine slowly bending his knee back and forth. But the pain of any movement beyond 20 degrees was agonising.

Two operations to remove inflammation were followed by two more to take out some of the '12 or 13 screws and bolts' in his knee, as well as some torn cartilage.

On one occasion he wanted a bath. But when it came to getting himself out he and his wife Bec were stumped. She eventually pulled the plug on the cold water, and before one final heave finally freed him, she seriously considered throwing a duvet over him and leaving him for the night.

A trip to Philadelphia to visit leading rehabilitation coach Bill Knowles did provide a moment of humour.

When he arrived at the clinic the first thing he was asked to do were somersaults and roly-polys in a soft play area.

The defender, right, had fluid drained from his knee on 30 separate occasions

Barker is thankful to Burton manager Nigel Clough, who stood by him throughout his ordeal

Barker recalls: 'I thought, "this is a wind up!"

'But I soon realised it was to make me see how much I relied on my other leg to stand up, roll, basic movements. I was like a monkey over there; every time we saw someone he would say, "come and look at this guy".'

The swelling in his knee was a constant battle and the largest aspiration was 120ml – or 'five or six big fat syringes'.

TWO WORLDS APART On Friday, Shaun Barker returned to competitive action with Burton. A lot had changed in the world since his previous appearance in March 2012, when... - Great Britain was controlled by a coalition government which included the Liberal Democrats - Mo Farah and Laura Trott had no Olympic gold medals between them - Donald Trump's rhetoric was confined to reality TV - Edward Snowden was happily sat behind a desk at the NSA - Newcastle were sixth and Fulham 10th in the Premier League - Alexandra Burke was top of the UK singles chart - Brexit could have been confused for a laxative Advertisement

'I remember once I went to London to get one done, and by the time I'd got back home to Derby, a two-hour drive, it had all filled back up again,' says Barker.

'I couldn't stand up for 10 minutes without my knee flaring up. After every single thing I did I had to sit down and ice my knee. Your whole life changes because of that. I couldn't do anything with my wife or kids.'

A trip to Dusseldorf in Germany for a procedure called orthokine provided a breakthrough, two years down the line.

The five-day treatment involves removing, manipulating and reintroducing blood as an anti-inflammatory and has been used by athletes such as basketball star Kobi Bryant.

'It changed my life,' Barker said.

Six months later he played an emotional first game for Derby's under 21s and his recovery began to pick up pace. He played some part in six under 21 games in all, two of them for League One Sheffield United, by then managed by Nigel Clough, who has supported him every step of the way.

Derby's belief that he could return to their level left with Clough.

He was released in May of 2015, just as a foot problem thrown up by the imbalance in his body turned out to be a torn plantar fascia. Perhaps unsurprisingly, not many clubs were looking for a 33 year-old centre half with no appearances in three years, a damaged foot and a reconstructed knee.

Clough gave Barker the chance to play for Sheffield United Under 21s and Burton

The Brewers boss sent the 33-year-old off the bench to play against Derby on Friday

If there was any moment to give up, among many, surely it was then?

'Unless you know me personally and are involved in my environment, I can understand that 95 per cent of people wouldn't believe I'd play again,' said Barker.

'Why would they? Fans would tell me I wasn't going to play again; sometimes they think they can say what they want to you. But the vast majority were involved with my journey and I think my belief was infectious.'

His wife Bec says he was down twice, for about half an hour each time, in four-and-a-half years. It certainly seems his belief was infectious and that man Clough came to his aid once more in March, offering him treatment and a place to get fit, at Burton.

'I don't think there's many people like Nigel left in the game,' he said.

'It's not just about football for him, it's about characters; it's about how people are, whether you can trust them.

'When I came on the other night I thought "yeah this is what I've missed".

Barker celebrates Burton's 1-0 victory over Derby with team-mate Kyle McFadzean

'Those last 10 minutes of games when you're 1-0 up and you've got to hold strong, that's when I grow and enjoy football the most. I think the gaffer knows that; he knows he can throw me on to head the ball.'

On Friday, Barker wore the same boots he was wearing the night his career was derailed. He wore the same pair in his first under 21 game and his testimonial at the iPro but now they will be boxed up and kept as a token of the journey he's been on.

Given he turns 34 in September, he feels like he is starting all over again.

'Having that 90 seconds was the thing that I needed and wanted more than anything; to get that was remarkable for me and kind of like the end of a journey, and now a new one begins,' he said.

'It's about proving myself again now. This has made me content but it's not made me happy.'