WHEN new England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson names his first squad this afternoon, it will bring back happy memories for at least one of his predecessors.

As the Swede sets out his vision for the future of the nation's international side, Middlesbrough coach Terry Venables will be preparing his team for their vital Premiership clash with Southampton at the Riverside on Saturday.

But the 57-year-old Cockney knows exactly what emotions will be coarsing through Eriksson's veins as he nominates the men who will wear the three lions in next week's friendly against Spain, because he felt the same when he chose his first team for a friendly against Denmark in March 1994.

''I was very excited at the time,'' he said. ''I'd had quite a while to get things together, sort my mind out as to what I wanted and what I was looking for, and it was very exciting.

''We played Denmark at Wembley when they were the European champions and we played very well, so that was the lift everyone wanted.''

England won that game 1-0 to launch an encouraging run which ended in heartbreak with a penalty shoot-out defeat by Germany in the semi-finals of Euro 96.

Eriksson has little time to assess the resources available to him before next month's vital World Cup qualifiers against Finland and Albania, and Venables expects him to give several players a chance to put themselves in contention for the games that matter.

''I would think he'll be fairly set in his ways, and he'll be not unsure, but there'll be a couple maybe that he feels need to be seen, need to be getting in an England shirt.

''I wouldn't be surprised if there's two or three players in there that he'll be wanting to see for the next competitive game.''

Venables, of course, was one of the favourites to succeed Kevin Keegan, only to be denied a second stint as national coach when Eriksson was appointed, but while that may still rankle, he has enough on his own mind at the moment.

l The new England coach seems set to prove over the next week that he still has one foot entrenched in the past.

After the contrasting hype and criticism following his appointment, the Swede finally gets off the roundabout of a frantic scouting schedule to pick his first England squad for the Spanish game.

He has neatly side-stepped whether the time is right to blood Joe Cole and how he perms his strike-force for his first squad.

Leaving out the likes of Paul Ince or Dennis Wise could virtually end international careers.

With Beckham almost certainly to be named as captain, Eriksson has one sure-fire way of gaining some positive publicity.

There are also likely to be one or two new names in the squad, possibly including Arsenal left-back Ashley Cole as well as West Ham namesake Joe, while Michael Carrick and Danny Mills are also contenders.

However, especially with Tony Adams having retired, while Martin Keown and Gareth Southgate are out injured, it is still likely to be a starting line-up with its roots embedded in experience