DANNY Coyne is desperate to establish himself as the Wales number one by keeping Wayne Rooney at bay tomorrow.

The Burnley stopper goes head-to-head with England's lone striker in tomorrow's crucial World Cup qualifier in Cardiff.

And Coyne, who has beaten Ipswich Town youngster Lewis Price to the gloves to win his 10th cap in nine years, aims to may down a marker in the biggest game of his life at the Millennium Stadium.

""Obviously we are aware of the great players England have and it's terrific to be able to pit your wits against a fantastic talent like Rooney," insisted Coyne, speaking exclusively to the Telegraph from inside the Welsh camp.

"Every game for your country is huge, but I've been around the Wales squad for almost 10 years now and played just nine games, so this has been a long time coming and representing my country at home to England will be something special.

"We're aware that as well as Rooney, Sven Goran Eriksson has world class players to choose from but we have to take the game to them and try to win it or there's no point in turning up."

Coyne, who has kept goal for Wales in their last three World Cup qualifiers as successor to Paul Jones, added: "Qualification has gone for us and (coach) John Toshack is trying to build a team for the European Championship qualifiers next year, so all the games are important in that respect and it's a big chance for me now.

"I know the manager is looking for another young keeper, but I don't think of myself as a stop-gap and I will enjoy every single minute facing England."

The Prestatyn-born stopper has warmed up for the Group Six clash by starting the last three games at club level for Burnley following the head injury sustained by club rival Brian Jensen at Watford last month.

But Coyne, 32 last week, admits nothing in his career will come close to the feeling of playing in front of 72,000 passionate Welsh fans against their greatest rivals.

"This is by far the biggest game of my career," he admitted. "When you look back, I've played in some big games but it's a World Cup qualifier against England and for a Welshman there is no bigger game.

"Back when you are a kid, this is the one game you dreamed of playing in and ever since the draw was made this is the game the Welsh public have been looking forward to.

"The big thing from my point of view is that I got three games before meeting up, which was important. You do need match practice and I wanted a few games, but I was fortunate the way it worked out following Brian's injury.

"That's football though. Twelve months ago, I got injured to give Brian his chance so you can never take anything for granted in this game. You just have to take the highs and the lows."

Meanwhile, Burnley boss Steve Cotterill has revealed he made several attempts to bring former loan star Gary Cahill back to Turf Moor from Aston Villa this summer.