by Our Sports Desk

Wayne Hennessey said yesterday that Wales will “prove people wrong” at Euro 2016 next summer.

Wales will head to France as tournament rookies having not competed at a major finals since the 1958 World Cup in Sweden.

Despite being currently ranked eighth in the world and having lost only one of their last 12 competitive matches, Wales will be placed in the bottom pot of seeds because of their low Uefa coefficient rating.

Manager Chris Coleman says he is ready for Wales being pitched into a “group of death” in December’s draw but goalkeeper Hennessey feels they are capable of upsetting more established nations in France.

“Hopefully we can surprise a few people,” Hennessey said after Wales had rounded off their historic campaign with a 2-0 victory over Andorra in Cardiff.

“If we play like we can we will do well. We’ll probably be written off but that’s a challenge for us and we have what it takes to prove people wrong.

“We’ve shown we can keep clean sheets and that can take you a long way in tournament football.

“I’ll take the clean sheets and let the other boys do their thing.”

Hennessey started every game of a campaign in which he won his 50th cap and kept seven clean sheets in Wales’s 10 qualifiers.

Only England, Spain and Romania conceded fewer goals in Euro qualifying than Wales, with Hennessey beaten only four times in the entire campaign.

“The defending has been excellent all campaign but it’s not just the back four or five,” Hennessey said.

“It starts at the front and works its way back. I think we’ve been fantastic.

“You saw that when we went down to 10 men against Cyprus and the way Gareth (Bale) has worked from the front is an example of that.

“We always believed there was enough talent in the dressing room to go to a major tournament.

“We’ve now proven that on the field — and what has happened will definitely live long with me.”

Speaking after the match, Coleman said that this group of players had earnt the “golden generation” tag.

“A lot of people said to me in the first campaign about them being described as the golden generation,” he said.

“I always argued against it because they hadn’t earned it, even though they had the potential to do something special.

“But now they have earned that tag and gone further than anybody since 1958.”