JQuery IE6 Could not set the selected property

$.fn.setDropDownValue = function(valueToSet) { if ((!this[0].options) || (this[0].options.length == 0)) return; if ($.browser.msie && $.browser.version == 6.0) { var open = '<OPTION value=/''; var html = ''; for (var i = 0; i < this[0].options.length; i++) { var opt = $(this[0].options[i]); html += open + $(opt).val() + '/''; if (opt.val() == valueToSet) { html += ' selected'; } html += '>' + opt.html() + '</OPTION>'; } $(this).html(html); } else { this.val(valueToSet); } };