SHIVERING stopper Paul Jones is hopeful of a busy night in nippy Moscow on Saturday - to keep the goosebumps at bay.

The Southampton goalkeeper will win his 36th cap as Wales take on Russia in their Euro 2004 play-off first leg at the Lokomotiv Stadium.

And the freezing Russian capital will be a far cry from the 'tropical' South Coast for Jones on Saturday evening (4pm GMT).

Forecasters predict sub-zero temperatures for the first leg of the play-off - the last chance for either side has of qualifying for next summer's European Championship finals in Portugal - but Jones knows he'll keep warm if the Russian frontline bombard his goal.

"I know our kit man Tony Quaglia has sorted some warm clothes for us when we train out there before the match," said Jones, dispossessed by Antti Niemi as Gordon Strachan's first-choice goalie at St Mary's.

"So we'll be wrapped up in training but when it comes to the game, I think I'll be very busy so I won't need thick clothes to keep me warm.

"It will probably be the coldest climate I've played in but we'll have to knuckle down and get on with it.

"It will be a vast temperature difference from the tropical south coast as it has been 16 or 17 degrees centigrade in Southampton even in September and October! It's been very mild.

"And I must admit it was a big shock to the system when I went up to Bolton on Saturday with Southampton as there was a big difference in temperature. It was freezing up there!"

Stalwart Jones made his international entrance as a 30-year-old in May 1997 in a 1-0 friendly victory against Scotland.

But at 36, Jones is honest enough to admit that this could be his last chance of playing in a major finals.

"These two legs against Russia will undoubtedly be the biggest two games of my career," he said.