EWOOD chief Graeme Souness believes Rovers' UEFA Cup 'Battle of Britain' with Celtic will make men of his young players as he prepares to lead them into war at Parkhead tomorrow.

Souness is a seasoned veteran of Celtic clashes from his days as both a player and manager with arch Glasgow rivals Rangers.

And, as he prepares to take a team back to the city for the first time in 11 years, Souness said: "It's my belief that if you've got anything about you then you'll want to play on the big stage and this is one of the biggest stages of all.

"If you've got it and you want to be a top man, then you must be able to perform in situations like this.

"From a personal point of view, the bigger the occasion was, the more I got excited by it and the more it turned me on.

"So I'll be looking at my players very closely to see how they handle this.

"I'll look at their eyes before they go down the tunnel because this is going to be a unique atmosphere for them - Parkhead is a very special place to play.

"As far as I'm concerned, this is their biggest test to date and I expect to learn a lot about them from how they cope over the next 48 hours."

Rovers got a taster of exactly what's awaiting them when they experienced hostility in during their game against Sofia in the first round.

"We were confronted by a hostile atmosphere in Bulgaria and this will be that but multiplied by three.

"I've been involved in the Old Firm game between Rangers and Celtic and it's the biggest derby in the world.

"Both are enormous football clubs but then there's other things which make them rivals as well.

"Although a lot of it is unattractive and unsavoury at times, there's great excitement generated by it."

Souness has named a 20-man squad for the trip which includes Damien Duff and Andy Cole.

Rovers' reserves are in action against Bradford City at Morecambe's Christie Park tonight (kick-off 7pm).