WALES hero Mark Hughes wants his glory-hunters to dance in style all the way to Portugal next summer.

Hughes' unbeaten Euro 2004 Group Nine table-toppers are now entering the final lap of their finals qualification bid - but this is where it starts to get tricky.

Fans' expectations have gone through the Millennium Stadium's retracting roof and the pressure on Wales' battle-hardened troops is really hotting-up - with Hughes eager standards do not drop.

The Welsh are one of an elite group of six national teams that have sold out their Euro 2004 finals ticket allocation.

And with almost 10,000 fans preparing for next month's vital qualifying match with Italy in Milan and their final two Millennium Stadium outings being 72,500-capacity sell-outs, the anticipation of Wales starring in a major finals for the first time since 1958 is reaching boiling point.

Hughes admits: "Let's face it, the pressure has been boiling since that opening day victory in Finland.

"A lot of people now expect us to qualify and we don't want to let those people down.

"We should not fear the pressure, we are mentally stronger than before and we should be excited about the next game and not be afraid.

"I don't want us to stumble across the finishing line and be involved in any play-off.

"This is the time where we have to make our mark and finish strongly and I want to win the group because we have put ourselves in a great position."

Wales have squashed Azerbaijan twice, mighty Italy and, of course, Finland in that opener. Hughes, though, is under no illusions that the tougher tests lie ahead - Italy away, Finland at home and two games with Serbia/Montenegro, the away clash two weeks tomorrow.

And the Welsh leader admits Serbia are now an unknown quantity under new coach Iliya Petkovic following the resignation of Dejan Savicevic.

Hughes said: "We honestly don't know how they'll play - it can go either way.

"They are an emotional side and it depends how they approach the game.

"Their players could be motivated as they've got a new coach and want to impress.

"However, they're in a little bit of turmoil as they haven't done as well as was expected and I've heard reports they are now looking ahead to the World Cup in 2006, so they'll possibly start bringing in some younger players - that could be to our advantage.

"They would accept they are not in the best of shapes but they're so capable of creating problems and have great ability, so we won't underestimate them.

"Everybody understands the importance of the Serbia game to us and we're looking for a positive result, we're going there with a positive frame of mind and I feel we can win.

"It will be a hostile atmosphere but I haven't got a problem with my players being affected by any hostile crowds as they play in front of huge crowds week in week out at club level.

"Plus, if Serbia don't start quickly and we threaten at the other end their crowd could turn on them."