COLIN Hendry has tipped Grant Hanley to forge his own name in the game after insisting any comparisons with him are unfair to the Rovers teenager.

The 19-year-old defender is expected to make his Scotland debut from the bench in the Carling Nations Cup clash against Northern Ireland tonight, with the inevitable parallels already being drawn between him and Rovers’ former ‘braveheart’ Hendry.

In his brief Premier League appearances so far, Hanley’s no-nonsense, combative style has seen some describe him as ‘the new Colin Hendry’ – after the man who helped Blackburn Rovers to the Premier League title back in 1995.

Hendry though, who made more than 400 appearances for Rovers, has told Hanley to forget any labels and focus solely on continuing his football education.

He said: “People tend to liken players to former players and that is fine in terms of giving others a flavour of their style of football and what sort of player they are.

“It is a little bit unfair though because Grant is his own man. He is not the next Colin Hendry, he is Grant Hanley and he has obviously shown huge promise in his early career.

“Grant is making his own name in football and by the looks of it has a long career ahead of him.

“He just needs to keep his head down and keep working hard.

“If he does, I’m sure it won’t be long before people are talking about Grant Hanley in his own right.”

Dumfries-born Hanley has come through the youth ranks at Ewood Park and pledged his future to the club until the summer of 2015 by signing a new deal in July.

He made his Premier League debut in Rovers’ win at Aston Villa on the final day of last season and has since made five league appearances, including three starts.

“It is an honour to play for your country at any age,” said Hendry.

“But to get selected for Scotland at such a tender age is great for the lad.

“Craig Levein obviously believes in him.

“Centre back is a position where you normally get better the older you get, so I expect Grant to have a very long international career, as long as he continues doing what he is doing.

“At Blackburn Rovers there are people there who will protect him. He is still learning the game and people shouldn’t expect too much too soon.

“Tonight will be a massive moment for him and hopefully he performs to his best and doesn’t try too hard.”