Check if number matches

[granpa]

What would be the regex term to check if a number matches?

Like for example:

<a href="page.php?search=<? echo $search ?>&page=<? echo $previous ?>"> Previous</a> |
<a href="page.php?search=<? echo $search ?>&page=<? echo $next ?>">Next</a>

$previous and $next are always page numbers.

How would i determine if $previous matches $next, I should do an str replace so it dont echo. (because their is no next page).

[bradgrafelman]

if($next != $previous)
   echo "--HTML here for next link";