Rehman, who made his debut for the West London outfit just over two years ago, has no regrets about opting to pursue international honours with the hosts of the 2005 South Asian Football Federation Championship (SAFF).

As the only Asian player currently competing in the Premiership, Rehman is a role model to younger players from ethnic minority backgrounds who dream of playing football at the highest level.

Speaking to Fulham's Official Website before he flew out to Bahrain for a series of international friendlies, Rehman admitted that Pakistani football is in need of development.

“At the moment football is just taking off. They just need a catalyst to get it going, and hopefully that can be me. Obviously my situation means that I can link England and Pakistan together.

“Football's a massive game in Pakistan, and they're now putting a lot of time, effort and funding into getting us to a major competition. They've told me that they see me as an ambassador because of where I play my football, so it gives me some extra responsibility.

“They want to make me captain too, which is a great honour. I'll be just as proud to represent Pakistan as England."

There have been precious few Asians to have pulled on the shirt of a Premiership side, Newcastle’s Michael Chopra and Harpal Singh at Leeds United the only two to have preceded the Fulham midfielder.

Now that Rehman has settled at Fulham he has his hopes set on qualification for the 2010 World Cup which would be an amazing, but distinctly possible, achievement.

He added: “FIFA groups Pakistan with countries like Iran, China, Japan - all teams who qualify for major tournaments. So hopefully we can make it to a World Cup in the not too distant future.”

On Monday, FA Director of Corporate Affairs Simon Johnson delivered a speech to a conference on Racial Equality in Football. To read more about the efforts being made to break down barriers in Football click on the links below and in the right hand column.