Twenty-two years may have passed since Maradona's famous Hand of God goal which sent England crashing out of the quarter-finals in Mexico in 1986 but Butcher is unwilling to forgive or forget.

Maradona's arrival in Scotland ahead of Wednesday's glamour clash at Hampden has re-opened old wounds and brought memories of that summer flooding back for the former England captain.

And, although officially a friendly, there is no doubt it will also be a grudge match as far as the Scotland assistant boss is concerned.

"No, I'll never forgive him," said Butcher.

"It's not nice when you lose a World Cup quarter-final under those circumstances.

"I was selected for the drugs test with Gary Stevens and Kenny Sansom and ended up in the room with Maradona and two of his pals. Our World Cup was over and they were celebrating.

"It could have been a war-zone in there but it wasn't. I wasn't next to him, if I was I might have done something.

"He was playing it very cute because he said he headed the ball, not handled it. Not that I could speak Spanish but he indicated through sign-language that he put his head to the ball rather than his hand.

"It's very hard to forgive and forget in the circumstances. But it was 22 years ago.

"I think I'm 4-1 to get a red card in the tunnel - it would be the fist of Terry Butcher rather than the hand.

"But, no, it's gone now and, while we will never forget, it's not about that game. I haven't got a Maradona doll that I stick pins in every day, I don't need psychiatric help.

"It's not about me, it's not about that game and England, it's about Scotland who are playing this match against one of the best teams in the world in preparation for the World Cup qualifiers in March and April."

Although Scotland would love to claim a positive result and bolster confidence ahead of a crucial qualifier against Holland in March, Butcher is well aware of Maradona's hero-status north of the border.

"I remember coming back in 1986 up to Scotland having moved from Ipswich to Rangers," he said.

"I saw more Argentina strips in Scotland than I did in Mexico so that's how much Argentina are held in awe here. So it's going to be interesting, intriguing.

"It's a unique situation in some respects because it's my nemesis, England's nemesis, coming here to Scotland and getting a hero's welcome and being loved by the whole of Scotland.

"It's weird, it's strange, but that's football."

Maradona will take charge of the national team for the first time at Hampden and Butcher believes his appointment was a shrewd move by the Association del Futbol Argentino, with their own World Cup campaign floundering.

"For the best player who played for a country to be the coach of that country, is fantastic for the Argentina players," he said.

"The players do hold him in high regard and it's something special when someone like that is in charge of your country.

"It might work against Scotland, and probably will work against them, on Wednesday.

"The players will be very keen to impress their new boss, their hero, their idol. So I'm sure the players will be pulling out all the stops for him to get into the team for their World Cup qualifiers. It's an excellent appointment for the country.

"It's a good test for us, an excellent test. We are not looking just to play second fiddle to Argentina, we are looking to do well in the game.

"I want to beat them, I don't think anyone in the Scotland squad wants to beat them more than I do. I've got my own agenda but the main agenda is Scotland and doing well for the country."

Scotland boss George Burley has once again suffered numerous call-offs with West Brom's James Morrison and Cardiff forward Ross McCormack joining an injury list which already included Craig Gordon, Kenny Miller, Darren Fletcher and Steven Fletcher.

"The ones who aren't here will be disappointed and the ones who are here will have the chance to play against one of the best teams in the world," said Butcher.

"The players who have pulled out all have genuine injuries and they'll be very disappointed that they're not going to be here.

"I was lucky enough to play against Argentina in big games and you remember these games for the rest of your life.

"Hopefully we can remember Wednesday's game from a positive aspect having done well."