DARRENANDERTON

DARREN ANDERTON made his dad’s dream come true when he watched him star in an Auld Enemy clash.

But the only problem for his old man was he was wearing the Three Lions rather than Lion Rampant.

Anderton’s Rangersdaft dad Norman grew up in Motherwell before work commitment’s took him to England’s south coast.

He’d have loved to see his boy represent Scotland and that would have been the case if Andy Roxburgh hadn’t snubbed him after a trial as a teenager.

And eight years after Roxburgh’s rejection the former Spurs man played his part in one of England’s most famous wins over Scotland.

Paul Gascoigne netted a sublime winner – followed by his dentist’s chair celebration – in the Euro 96 clash at Wembley after latching on to Anderton’s pass.

High up in the stand that day was Anderton’s proud dad, sitting next to Rod Stewart, in what was a bittersweet afternoon.

There is a fierce Auld Enemy rivalry with hostilities set to be renewed at Hampden in Saturday’s crucial World Cup qualifier.

But despite representing England 30 times, Anderton has a soft spot for Scotland and revealed how he could have played for them.

The 45-year-old said: “My dad Norman is Scottish and I actually went for trials for Scotland as a 16-year-old.

“Andy Roxburgh was in charge but I was told I wasn’t good enough. It worked out fine in the end because I regard myself as English and I went on to play for England.

“There has always been an extra edge to it for me personally because my dad is Scottish.

“I missed out on both games of the Euro 2000 play-off but Euro 96 was one of my favourite games and of course passing the ball to Gazza for that goal.

“It was all about the assist – it was a tap-in! It was strange to see my dad and mum up in the stand at Wembley going mental – because they were sat next to Rod Stewart.

“It’s funny but I gave my dad John Collins’s shirt after the game so he was happy after the defeat.

“But as a kid I was very fortunate. I had a great dad and always wanted to do good things for him.”

Scotland are out for revenge following their 3-0 Wembley defeat last November and after a win against Slovenia in their last qualifier victory for Gordon Strachan’s men would move them to within just three points of the Group F leaders.

Gareth Southgate’s men have won four and drawn one of their five games but Anderton doesn’t believe there is any chance of them taking Scotland lightly.

He said: “Gordon Strachan is a good manager. Scotland just don’t have a great pool of players to pick from and it’s difficult for him.

“I’d be surprised if there is any complacency from England at Hampden.” MARK McGHEE has reinvented himself as a phone app designer since finding his departure from club management had given him time for a new venture.

But no matter how commercially successful his new Puzzler Name Game quiz becomes there’s nothing quite as rewarding as a week like this – gearing up for a massive game with your best pal by your side.

Of the many adventures McGhee and Gordon Strachan have enjoyed over the years – winning trophies as team-mates at Aberdeen and taking on world champions Germany as a management pair – this week could prove the biggest thrill of the lot.

For if they can inspire their Scotland side to inflict a stunning victory over England in front of a packed Hampden it would rank right up there with the greatest achievements of their lives.

McGhee said: “It’s what makes this job exciting. In my time with the national team we’ve played Germany and, of course, England already at Wembley.

“There have been some massive games and it’s a privilege to be part of it, to be working at this level and have a game of this magnitude to look forward to.

“You also have to remember Gordon is one of my closest friends so for two best pals to have the keys to the Scotland job looking after the team going into an England match at Hampden is just amazing.

“I’ve been waiting for this game, desperate for it to come around. And it’s not impossible the boys will pull off a big result here. Look at the performance in the last game against Slovenia, it was improved.

“Look at the previous performance against England for 55 minutes – and certainly until they scored the second goal, I think it was decent. There were a lot of positive aspects about that performance other than the fact we didn’t put the ball in the back of the net.

“We need a similar level of performance if not slightly better and at home I don’t see why we can’t produce that. Of course if we make chances we’ve got to take them.

“Looking at the game over and over I see possibilities – and I mean that more about ourselves rather than looking at England and seeing weaknesses.

“I don’t see a lot of weaknesses no matter what anybody says about this not being a great England side. They’ve got great players and they will be difficult for us to beat – but I see things in our game that we can improve on and give ourselves better chances this time.”

The 1-0 win over the Slovenians did much to raise belief in a squad previously sapped of its lustre by a stuttering start to this World Cup qualifying campaign already teetering on the edge of failure.

Defeat by England would stamp out the remaining flickers of hope but the great boost from the Slovenia game at Hampden in March was the emergence of Stuart Armstrong as a force in midfield.

McGhee added: “It’s satisfying when you see players coming in and succeeding, just like Ikechi Anya did in the previous campaign, coming seemingly from nowhere.

“Stuart is more prominent, given that he’s playing for Celtic and they’re winning everything in sight. But he has still come in and added something that has benefited us as it did against Slovenia.

“I thought he was brilliant again for Celtic in the Scottish Cup Final against Aberdeen. I felt in the first half he was the player who kept his side’s tempo up. He’s certainly a plus for us, no doubt about it.” Whether another new recruit to the Scotland squad, Mark Reynolds, is given a similar chance to come in straight away and shine remains to be seen. The 30-year-old Aberdeen defender has had to be patient, having been consistently overlooked by a succession of Scotland managers stretching