Hennessey wants Finnish scalp

Goalkeeper hoping to avenge Cardiff defeat

Last updated: 8th October 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Hennessey wants Finnish scalp

Hennessey: Revenge mission

Related links

Teams

Players

Also see

Wayne Hennessey says Wales will be out to prove a point against Finland in Saturday's World Cup qualifier in Helsinki.

The Finnish dashed Wales' qualification hopes when they beat their Group 4 opponents 2-0 in Cardiff back in March.

Since then things have gone from bad to worse for John Toshack's side who, more recently, were thumped 3-1 by Russia.

Hennessey admits that failing to qualify for next year's tournament was a big blow to him and his team-mates, more so crashing out on home soil.

The 22-year-old has labelled Saturday's tie in Helsinki as a 'revenge mission', saying Wales' main priority now is to finish as high in the group as possible.

"These two games are still massive for us," said Hennessey, looking forward to Wales' final group games with Finland and Liechtenstein.

"We need to get the points to make the group table a lot better than it is now.

Point to prove

"We have to prove we can beat Finland after what happened in March against them in Cardiff.

"I suppose it is a revenge mission. We were so disappointed by that result and the way we played that revenge is not too strong a word.

"Third place would be brilliant - we would improve our seeding in the next competition. We have to make that our goal."

Hennessey should earn his 22nd and 23rd caps for Wales against Finland and Liechtenstein, edging him closer to his dream of overtaking Neville Southall's 92-cap Wales record.

"I am only 22, I want a lot more caps," he said.

"Neville Southall's record number of caps for Wales is a target, obviously. It is the sort of total that only really goalkeepers can achieve.

"I hope I can take his record. He was fantastic, and achieved so much, so to get anywhere near him would be a proud achievement for me.

"Hopefully I have a long career ahead of me for Wales and we will qualify for a finals in my time, definitely. Why not?"

He added: "We need six points now to make this campaign a successful one, third place is important and achievable.

"It is a goal we want to reach and it is something we can manage over the next week."