BIG John Hartson (pictured) insists Wales will never have a better chance of ending their 46-year major championship final drought than this current campaign.

The Welsh dragon is roaring as Mark Hughes' men proudly lead Euro 2004 qualifying Group Nine with three wins out of three as the battle for Portugal hots-up with Wales clashing with Azerbaijan at the Millennium Stadium today (3.30pm).

Wales haven't qualified for a major final since the 1958 World Cup in Sweden - where they lost 1-0 to Brazil in the quarter-final - but Hartson (right) believes Hughes' men have the right blend of players that can achieve something "very special."

The Welsh boast battlers like Robbie Savage, Mark Pembridge and Hartson himself while flair performers such as Craig Bellamy, Ryan Giggs and Simon Davis.

And Celtic frontman Hartson, 28 next week, said: "I'm sure Mark Hughes wants characters like that in his side to have a good blend of flair players and players who can put their foot in.

"We all give 110% and the good thing about that is we have a manager who played like that.

"He understands and appreciates when you make mistakes. If anyone was in the wrong Mark will come down on us like a ton of bricks because he knows what is right and wrong.

"But I feel this is one of our best chances we'll ever have of qualifying for a major championship final.

"We want to get to Portugal for us and the Welsh public. There have been great Welsh players over the years like Peter Nicholas, Joey Jones, Ian Rush, Dean Saunders, Mark Hughes who have never played in a major championships - they are legends.

"But we have the opportunity now of achieving something that they have never done. We realise that we are very close to Portugal and on the verge of doing something great and we don't want to mess that up.

"However, we have to play as a team as we haven't got the strength in depth. The Italy win did a lot for mine, and everyone else's confidence as it really showed us what a good side we are when everyone performs.

"But the Italy match is no more important than Saturday's game with Azerbaijan.

"We're not brash and thinking we're in Portugal because we haven't achieved anything yet - we've just had some good results against top-class teams but we need to keep that momentum going," added the 34-cap star.