THE final countdown has begun. The talking has nearly stopped. The rampant lion is ready to roar and England expects.

Book your ringside seats for Alan Shearer (pictured) versus Colin Hendry and a cross-border skirmish primed to stop a runaway juggernaut in its tracks.

The Blackburn duo come head-to-head for the first time since Boxing Day 1990 when Manchester City lost 2-1 at Southampton - Shearer NOT on the scoresheet!

And the stage could not be bigger as hosts England meet outsiders Scotland at Wembley in the heat of Euro '96 Group A.

The Auld Enemies last locked horns at Wembley on May 1989. But that was a mere friendly. Tomorrow the fate of their European Championship venture is at stake in a Wembley showdown billed as the clash of the century.

Defeat is an unthinkable prospect for England and Terry Venables. While Scotland will have every tartan scarf and hat from Dumfries to Dundee willing Craig Brown's men to victory.

The Scots, bursting with pride after Monday's 0-0 draw Holland, lifted the Tartan Army with an inspired performance at Villa Park.

It was in marked contrast to England's off-colour pipe-opener at Wembley when the nation waited for them to get Euro 96 off to a flying start.

The key to the game and a possible quarter-final berth? Maybe Blackburn Rovers Mr Goals against Ewood Park's blond Braveheart Colin Hendry.

Nobody at Ewood knows the two sparring partners better than Blackburn assistant manager Tony Parkes - how both man tick, their strengths and weaknesses.

But who will triumph in this battle of iron wills?

"It really is a fascinating duel and it is a close one to call isn't," said Parkes.

"I rate Alan Shearer as the best goalscorer in Europe right now, if not the world, while Colin Hendry is certainly one of the three best central defenders in England.

"Colin is a hard and determined centre-half. But he won't be going out to kick Alan. Neither of them are malicious players but it will still be a big battle for supremacy.

"Colin will see it is a big challenge to stop Alan scoring while Alan, I think, will see it as just another game. I'm not saying it's not important to Alan, because I know how keen he is to do well in this match.

"But Colin Hendry is a really proud Scot and he will be really fired up. I know how much the game will mean to him. I think the difference at international level is that I don't think Colin will be marking Alan as if it were a league game. Alan floats around a little bit more with England's style of play.

"At Blackburn we are a little more direct than England and play towards Alan because he is the main man for us."

Hendry has led the Scottish contingent at Ewood Park over the past month as he prepared them for the rigours of Euro 96.

"I can't believe the way Colin Hendry has prepared for the championships," revealed Parkes.

"Colin and the rest of the Scotland lads were actually coming in on their days off to put in extra training for the championships. I know it means so much to him."

Shearer ended his England goal drought with a blistering strike in the 1-1 stalemate against Switzerland - ending a 20 month wait.

But Parkes added: "I'm sure Terry Venables was never worried about that because there is so much more to Alan's all-round game.

"Alan has a combination of talents as a striker. It will be very interesting to see who comes out on top."

Hendry is more used to watching Shearer hit the back of the net from 30 yards away. But he will be breathing down his neck tomorrow tracking the most lethal pair of shooting boots in the Premiership.

"I can't wait for Saturday but I won't turn up thinking 'Crikey, I'm playing against Alan Shearer today'. I'll just pick up England's number nine. I respect him but we've both got the same aim - to win.

"We'll be stepping into the cauldron on Saturday," predicted Hendry. "It'll be 90 degrees at Wembley with no breeze.

"And you can forget stories about there only being only 4,000 Scots fans there - I think half the crowd will be Scots. Put it this way, we won't need fireworks. It'll be 'light the blue touch paper' time!"

The last time the two countries met was in 1989 at Hampden Park. England won 2-0 with goals from Chris Waddle and Steve Bull, the first Third Division player to play for England since Peter Taylor in 1976.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.