Positivity is the buzz word as Speed eyes shock

Speed will take his side to Wembley knowing it is 34 years since they last won at Wembley, with England strong favourites to end the match with one foot in next summer’s European Championship finals.

Fabio Capello’s men cruised to victory in March’s reverse fixture at the Millennium Stadium but Speed warned that his young Wales side had learned from that 2-0 defeat.

He also revealed he had a plan to exploit the weaknesses that have seen England fail to win at home in the past year as he looked to mastermind a result that would immortalise him and his players in Welsh sporting folklore.

“We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t think we would win,” Speed said.

“England are a fantastic team. They’ll cause us problems, no doubt about that, but we’re confident and we believe in the way we play.

“You never know, we might nick a result.”

He added: “There’s certainly no fear.

“England have got fantastic players and are a great team. Their qualification record is as good anybody’s.

“We know it’s going to be tough but what a great opportunity, to go there and play against one of the best teams in the world, and really try to put on a good show.

“If you go there thinking negatively, you’re just playing into their hands.

“You’ve got to go there with a positive attitude. You’ve got to go there believing you can get a result from the game.

“We have looked at England to see where they’re strong and see where they’re vulnerable.”

Speed played down the fact Wales’s last Wembley win had come in 1977.

“I don’t think we’ve played that many games there to be honest,” said the 41-year-old, who pointed out his side had also made history in Friday night’s impressive Group G win over Montenegro.

“I don’t think we’d ever beaten a team from the former Yugoslavia up until Friday, so there you go. The result against Montenegro gave the players a bit of belief that we’re going in the right direction.

“Hopefully we can take confidence from that and have another good performance against England.”

Wales’ task has been made all the more difficult by suspensions to former captain Craig Bellamy and midfielder David Vaughan.

“In the past, it’s cost us when we’ve missed big players,” said Speed. “The aim is to make sure it doesn’t hurt as much as it has previously.”