KEVIN Phillips is ready for a head-to-head clash tomorrow with Marcus Stewart, the striker who threatens his England ambitions.

Phillips won the battle of the big guns when Sunderland walloped Ipswich 4-1 on New Year's Day.

Now he's poised for another showdown with the 17-goal marksman as he bids to get past the fourth round of the FA cup for the first time.

SuperKev and Stewart are both in contention for England selection in next month's friendly with Spain so there's plenty at stake apart from a place in the last 16.

And Phillips yesterday expressed his admiration for the Ipswich man whose career has parallelled his own - both strikers coming from lower league clubs to hit the bigtime.

Stewart is currently top scorer in the Premiership, just as his rival was last season.

And Phillips revealed: "I take an interest in strikers like Marcus who have come up from the lower leagues because people are ready to knock them down before they've kicked a ball in the Premiership.

"He was probably not given half a chance this season but he has proved people wrong and good luck to him."

The Sunderland man added: "I played against Marcus when I was an apprentice at Southampton and he was at Bristol Rovers.

"We crossed paths years ago and I'm pleased to see him doing so well now for Ipswich. He's a good player and he'll improve."

Phillips drew blanks against both Crystal Palace and Bradford athome most recently in front of watching England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson.

But the 27-year-old scorer, 14 goals so far, reckons he's playing betternow than when he picked up the title of Europe's top striker last season insisting: "My all-round game has come on a lot and I feel happier when I come off the pitch.

"People will say I've had a bad game if I don't score but there's more to football than that and I'm content with the way I'm playing.

"I've never had a good run in the cup. If we can get past Ipswich it will spur us on. But they are a good side and it'll be tough."

Tickets for Saturday's game will be on sale until noon tomorrow at the SAFC ticket office.

lSunderland's Swedish midfielder Stefan Schwarz is in line for an international comeback following achilles tendon damage against Austria last March, is expected to return for Sweden's friendly in Malta on February 28.