Celtic v Blackburn Network 2, BBC1 (8.05):  To many in England Chris Sutton will always be labelled as a £10 million Chelsea flop but at Parkhead, Celtic fans cannot understand why he is not an England regular.

Tonight, against a former club where he was a sight more successful, the 29-year-old striker gets the chance to make a belated case for international selection in front of Sven-Goran Eriksson.

Most at Parkhead feel that Sutton should have become an established England striker by now, as he has put in some outstanding performances for the club in the past 28 months. Maybe English memories linger on the form he showed at Stamford Bridge and his woeful return of one league goal in 28 games in the 1999-2000 season, but he was also an integral part of Blackburn's title-winning team in 1994-95.

Eriksson has shown scant interest in Sutton thus far, as was the way with most of the Swede's predecessors, although Sutton can point to 13 Under-21 caps won while a Norwich player and one full cap, 11 minutes as a substitute under Glenn Hoddle in 1998.

Martin O'Neill, who made Sutton his first signing, for £ 6 million in July, 2000 when it became apparent Mark Viduka was heading for Leeds, could never be accused of being slow in making a case for him.

Indeed Eriksson responded to O'Neill's musings with a visit last season, but Sutton produced a less-than-impressive performance against Porto in the Champions League.

For Sutton the fact he is coming face to face with a former club is significant, and he does not have a bad word to say about his five-season stay at Blackburn. "That spell meant a lot to me," he says. "It's a terrific club and looking back I probably shouldn't have left for Chelsea, although the one good thing about that move was it eventually allowed me to come to Celtic."

Out of the England manager's sight and out of mind, perhaps, but given the sudden acknowledgment of Steve McManaman's existence by Tord Grip after the former Liverpool forward scored twice for Real Madrid against AEK Athens in the Champions League last week, perhaps there is still time.

Not that Sutton seems to have been losing any sleep about it. "Chris has nothing to prove to anyone," says Celtic team-mate Alan Thompson. "He's not the first international player to be pushed to one side. If we can shut up shop and keep a clean sheet then Chris Sutton and Henrik Larsson can get a few goals."

This evening all of Sutton's focus will be on giving Celtic a healthy lead for the second leg, and he will have no qualms about filling in in defence or midfield if O'Neill asks him to do so. It is as a striker that he will always be best known, though.

At Blackburn, where he scored 47 goals in 130 league games, his partnership with Alan Shearer was dubbed the SAS and while the SAL, his Parkhead equivalent with Henrick Larsson, does not have the same menacing ring, it has proved just as lethal.

Larsson has 18 goals in all competitions this season while Sutton has nine, and both scored in Sunday's 4-1 win over Dunfermline.

Indeed there is a certain irony that neither man would probably have been involved tonight but for the Blackburn manager Graeme Souness, who when he took over at Rangers in 1986 began to reverse the trend of players moving from north to south by including England internationals Chris Woods and Terry Butcher among his first batch of signings.

Those transfers injected new life into Scottish football and, of course, ensured Celtic had to go down a similar road.

Sutton is philosophical about tonight's opportunity to impress the old country and chooses to shower praise on Larsson, whose prowess is often belittled by those who believe anyone with a modicum of talent can score goals in Scotland's Premier League.

"Henrik will be a key player for us but he has nothing to prove to people," he says. "He's done that against Rangers here, in Europe and at the World Cup finals with Sweden.

O'Neill, meanwhile, revealed Bulgarian midfielder Stilian Petrov, who will play with a light strapping covering a broken bone in his hand, is expected to sign an extension to his contract and that the goalkeeper Rab Douglas and Steve Guppy are fit.

Rovers included Brad Friedel, Andy Cole and Damien Duff in the squad which travelled north by train, and all are expected to figure in the match.