GARY Megson has challenged Fabrice Muamba to bare his teeth at the Reebok tomorrow afternoon as two of England’s young lions come face-to-face.

After being passed fit for action, the Wanderers ball winner meets his Under-21 international colleague Lee Cattermole — who signed for Sunderland in a £6million deal this week.

Both midfielders were included by Fabio Capello in a 37-man England “long squad” for the friendly against Holland in Amsterdam and although neither player eventually made the step up, Megson believes both could play a major part in their country’s future plans.

“Lee and Fab are both holding midfielders more renowned for their ball-winning qualities but they are both great young players and it’s good for England that we have got them,” he said.

“They are both similar — I’d say Mark Noble, at West Ham, is in there as well. They have got a great future in the game.”

Muamba’s inclusion in Capello’s plans completes a sharp turn in fortune for the 21-year-old, who experienced more downs than ups in his debut season at the Reebok.

He was lauded for his performances for Stuart Pearce’s Under-21s at the European Championships, and Megson hopes that can spur him on to greater things, starting with tomorrow’s season curtain raiser against the Black Cats.

“He’s got a lot of development to come,” the Whites boss said. “I saw him in the tournament and kept in touch with Steve Wigley (Wanderers and England first team coach). It was my view that he was our most consistent player.

“One of the things he has got to improve upon is being tidier in possession.

“If you look at him now, compared to the player that went away at the end of last season, he is playing with a lot more confidence. I’m hoping he’ll kick-on and show people on a consistent basis the player that we bought.”

Who will eventually line-up in Megson’s midfield against Sunderland is a matter of much debate.

Gavin McCann has resumed training after a slight hamstring injury and has been passed fit to battle Muamba, Ricardo Gardner, Mark Davies and Sean Davis for a starting berth.

Wanderers played a four-man midfield in their final pre-season warm-up game against Hibs, with Muamba partnering Davis in the middle of the park.

And Megson wants to eventually see Muamba adapt to a more advanced role than he played for England in the summer.

“He played out of position a little bit last season but that’s the sort of club we have to be,” he said. “We don’t have the pool of players England have to choose from.

“We brought him in as a holding midfield player but because of certain things I didn’t think we had here at the club, he ended up playing a little bit further forward.

“I would prefer, because of his age and physical ability, that he would eventually play a little bit further forward and start getting into the box.”

Megson is banking on a good atmosphere at the Reebok in order to recreate the result they earned on the opening day of last season against Stoke.

“You always want to be playing at home first up,” he said. “There’s a great atmosphere at the stadium in the first game of every season and there’s a great deal of optimism too.

“Sunderland will bring a large set of supporters like they did last season but hopefully we can start like we did against Stoke last year.”