FORMER Saints and England goalkeeping legend Peter Shilton will trip the light fantastic tomorrow night on BBC1’s Strictly Come Dancing.

I caught up with “Shilts” during a break in his training sessions with dance partner Erin Boag.

“I’ve been worked hard for the last two weeks. On average I’ve been dancing four hours a day. It’s like with learning anything new, the first steps are always the hardest,” says Peter, 61.

So how does the former shot-stopper rate his chances against his fellow contestants on Strictly come Dancing?

“I’ll be terrified tomorrow night. I keep waking up in the night thinking about dancing.

“I’ve gone out at Wembley in front of 100,000 fans and liked to think I knew what I was doing. This is totally different and outside my comfort zone.”

Shilton is perhaps most famous for winning 125 England caps in an international career spanning 20 years. He took the English record from Bobby Moore when he won his 109th cap against Denmark in 1989. Though dancing will be a fresh challenge for the man once hailed as the greatest goalkeeper in the world since he hung up his gloves.

When the new series of Strictly Come Dancing kicks off, Shilts will be one of the series’ oldest-ever dancers.

However, having retired from professional football at 47 years old and more than 1,000 league appearances, being one of the more senior competitors will be nothing new for him.

“Dancing is a totally different discipline to football. For a start I’ve got to keep my fingers closed, when I’m used to spreading them out.

“I also need a straight posture, where as I’m used to bending my shoulders and getting compact. It’s totally the opposite to goal-keeping technique.”

Having endured the agony of a World Cup penalty shoot-out in 1990 and being out-jumped by Diego Maradona – who scored against England in 1986’s Hand of God incident – I think we can safely say, Peter Shilton is more then used to high-pressure situations.

“Last week my dance partner Erin asked 20 people to watch me dancing at my golf and country club.

“It was the first time a group of people had watched me. Erin wanted to put a bit of pressure on me because it’s a totally different ball game when I have to dance on TV.”

When not practising his foxtrot, Peter lives with wife Sue near Kenilworth in Warwickshire and has a busy schedule that includes corporate work, golf days and speaking commitments, including businesses who hire him for motivational speaking.

“I get down to Bournemouth quite often for speaking and engagements. I’m doing something at Sandbanks quite soon and Matt Le Tissier tends to invite me to events on the south coast. My time at Southampton was probably the best place I’ve ever lived.”