As a duo they always complimented one another on the pitch, but now Claus Lundekvam is leading the tributes to his former Scandinavian colleague…

The other half of one of Saints' most successful centre-back partnerships has provided a glowing appraisal of Michael Svensson after the Swedish defender announced his retirement from the professional game.

Lundekvam and Svensson struck up an almost instant understanding alongside each other in defence as the pair hit the ground running both on and off the pitch.

"He was very competitive from day one which is something that he has been all his life and as a defender he proved to be very reliable," Saints' former number five said. "For me over the years he was a great partner to have and a very good player to have in the side.

"Before he came in we had chopped and changed our defence a lot with people like Doddsy (Jason Dodd), Ken Monkou, Richard Dryden and Ulrich Van Gobbel all playing in there for a while alongside me. When Michael came in we formed a great relationship in the centre of defence.

"The understanding we had between us was very good," the Norwegian continued. "With some players you sometimes find that it just clicks and in the early games with Michael we found each other really quickly and our style of play meant that we knew what each other would do.

"We were a bit different and I think that's why we worked well together.

"He was very dominant, he always wanted to attack everything and be the leading figure for all the headers and the tackles. I would let Michael deal with challenges and 50-50's and then read the game from what he did and it worked really well."

Brothers in arms - Svensson and Lundekvam

In late June 2002 Gordon Strachan introduced Svensson to his new Southampton teammates for the first time and Lundekvam explained that it didn't take long for the £2M signing from Troyes to make an impression.

"He was a nice character who settled into the dressing room very quickly," the Norwegian recalled. "We found out pretty quickly that he was not the sort of person you ran into on the training field without getting hurt though!

"It was a great time at the club when he came in and Gordon Strachan guided us through two great seasons when we finished eleventh and then eighth in the league. We got to the F.A Cup Final which was a great achievement and Michael and myself were in the middle of all of it. I think Michael was a major factor in our success at that time.

"They were great years and will always be two of the best years on the playing field for both of us and I'm sure he'd say the same."

The key to Svensson's success was his no-nonsense style which saw him live up to the nickname of 'Killer' - a moniker that has never seemed less appropriate for such a likeable man.

"Michael is one of those guys that we really admire and look up to as a character, a footballer and everything that he stands for," Lundekvam eulogised.

"We are good friends and neighbours now, but of course there is banter about our roots from Norway and Sweden which had helped us over the years.

"He is a great man with a great family and I am sure that we shall remain good friends forever."