ANY thoughts Stephen Hendry may have had about an easy passage into the next round of the snooker's Grand Prix in Glasgow may be off the mark.

ANY thoughts Stephen Hendry may have had about an easy passage into the next round of the snooker's Grand Prix in Glasgow may be off the mark.

That is the belief of world No.67 Matthew Selt, who plays against the Scottish legend Hendry in the first round at the start of next week.

Englishman Selt has been in the form of his life so far this season, winning four qualifying matches to get through to the recent Shanghai Masters.

He then repeated that feat to get through the qualifying rounds of the Grand Prix.

Selt's reward is a clash with seven-times world champion Hendry, a match scheduled for Monday afternoon.

"That is the perfect draw for me," said the confident 24-year-old.

"I want to play the best people early doors and I believe I can win the match. It's a very, very tough draw, but I enjoy a challenge.

"The harder the match the better, I think.

"The better someone plays, the better you play. If I lose I'll be very disappointed."

Selt has experience of competing against the top stars.

He is a regular practice partner of Ronnie O'Sullivan and came up against John Higgins in the last 32 in Shanghai, losing 5-2.

"I've been playing a lot of snooker with Ronnie, who is probably the best player of all time, so to go on and play Hendry in a main event is perfect," he said.

"If I can get all these massive matches under my belt it won't do me anything but good."

Higgins will be defending the title against the likes of O'Sullivan, Hendry, Shaun Murphy and Mark Selby.