ENGLAND'S match against Macedonia at St Mary's tomorrow night will not be the first time Sven-Goran Eriksson has brought a team to Southampton.

Around 20 years ago the Swede brought his Gothenburg team to face Saints at The Dell in a pre-season friendly.

And legendary Saints boss Lawrie McMenemy says Eriksson still remembered his trip to Southampton when they met several decades later.

He said: "Sven is a good solid man and he remembers coming to the Dell in the 1980s with Gothenburg when I was manager with Saints. He is a greatly experienced manager."

McMenemy managed Saints to the FA Cup and second place in the championship during his highly successful reign as manager from 1974 to 1985.

And he believes that this week's revelations concerning Eriksson's private life will not distract England's preparations for the match.

He said: "Sven seems to have the ability to let it all just sail by. The most important thing is that they keep winning the games.

"If the team is doing OK, that is what football people will judge him on. I'm confident for the game at St Mary's - it will be completely different for the players to Slovakia.

"The opposition will not be so strong and they will be playing on a far superior pitch - one of the best in the Premiership in fact.

"Beckham is a marked man but his delivery from set plays and passing on the run is the best around and he seems more comfortable with Gary Neville behind him.

"I think playing these games around the country have helped England as when the opposition came to Wembley it gave them such a lift.

"It is also good for the England players as they play on these grounds on a regular basis and the support tends to be more passionate."

McMenemy will join Mike Channon, Alan Ball and Matthew Le Tissier as FA guests of honour for tomorrow's big match and admits he is looking forward to the occasion.

He said: "The FA realise the importance to the area of hosting a full international and it is a great privilege to be a guest of honour - it should be a fantastic night. I just hope the rain holds off!

"There was never any hope of getting full competitive internationals at The Dell, although in 1990 I remember there was an under-21 international against Hungary and I believe Alan Shearer was then in the international squad.

"We also held a women's international in the 1980s and I remember myself and the then England manager Ron Greenwood watched that match and were very impressed."

McMenemy said the result and not the performance was the most important aspect of Saturday's 2-1 win in Bratislava.

"It wasn't great viewing, but the conditions were bad," he said.

"The result at this level is all important so to get a win was really a massive bonus.

"It has become a clich but it is true that there are no easy games away from home at international level."

McMenemy said he hoped to see Wayne Bridge make an appearance tomorrow, but doubted whether Eriksson would make major changes.

He said: "I have no doubt that it is a possibility to play Wayne Bridge and Ashley Cole together.

"They could cover each other and it would give a lot of a balance. Scholes and Heskey have not looked comfortable in that position.

"But this is not a friendly and so Sven will be putting out the team to get a result and you can't really argue with him so far.

"We would all like to see Bridge in, but Ashley Cole is at Arsenal and they are the best team in the country.

He added: "Wayne Bridge should feel delighted with himself that he is in the squad."