JAMES Beattie has urged Alan Shearer to come out of international retirement to boost England's chances of winning Euro 2004.

The Saints striker, who would almost certainly be out of the reckoning for Sven Goran Eriksson's squad if Shearer did return, believes the Newcastle skipper is the man to lead England to glory in Portugal.

Beattie and strike partner Kevin Phillips are still in the running for a place in the England squad and Saints' top scorer has urged Eriksson to watch them in action before he names his party on Monday.

He said: "England's prospects would be quite a bit better if Alan Shearer decided to come out of retirement.

"He should give it a go. If he mentioned it to Mr Eriksson then he'd be one of the first names on the squad list. He's made a decision and he's standing by it - but I'll have a word with him about it tonight!"

Beattie, whose style of play is often compared to Shearer's with both regarded as the archetypal English centre forward, added: "Shearer's the best English striker of his style.

"Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney are totally different types of player. Shearer is the traditional English centre forward who puts himself about, puts himself in good goalscoring positions, scores lots of goals and holds the ball up well.

"He's still the best at that and it shows with his goal return this year and his overall play.

"It's always nice to be compared to someone like Alan Shearer as he's a truly great player.

"To be mentioned in the same sentence as him is very nice, but I've got a few things to improve on before I get up to his standard."

Speaking of his and Phillips' England chances, Beattie continued: "Me and Kev keep taking the mickey out of each other saying it wouldn't be right if two Southampton strikers were in the European Championships!

"It's meant in good spirits but when Saturday comes you try your best and we're there and thereabouts.

"The way Kevin's played since Christmas he definitely deserves a shout.

"I don't know if Mr Eriksson comes down to watch our games but, if he doesn't, he certainly should start."

Beattie added: "Tonight's a big game for us. We're trying to get as high up as we can, every place is worth £560,000 and we won't be slacking off - nor will Newcastle because they've got a chance of the last Champions League place.

"They've got to come here and try and push us back and that's when we're at our best.

"When the space opens up in the middle we play our best football. When teams come and sit against us then sometimes we struggle but Newcastle will come out on the front foot and go for it and that will suit us."