Wayne Hennessey is a fully paid-up member of the goalkeeping union – but the Wolves No 1 is aiming to help shatter the reputation of one of his mentors.

The Wales international comes up against Chelsea counterpart Petr Cech as Mick McCarthy’s side seek an unlikely victory at the Premier League leaders tomorrow.

Cech has played in six of the nine consecutive clean sheet victories Chelsea have enjoyed at Stamford Bridge this term, since Stephen Hunt’s opener for Hull on August 15.

The Czech Republic international has shut out the likes of Manchester United, Tottenham, Atletico Madrid and Porto on home turf in an impressive total of nine clean sheets in 16 club games this season.

But however impressed or indeed envious he is at that record, Hennessey is determined Wolves will not be the latest lambs to the slaughter and wants to put a massive dent in it tomorrow.

He said: “They’ve got an incredible record of keeping clean sheets at home this season – nine in a row is superb whatever level you’re playing.

“But all good runs have to come to an end and we’re hoping to do that by getting a goal. To have that sort of defensive record proves they’re doing something really well but we’re a good team as well and going forward we can cause them problems.

“We can’t go there and not play our way.”

Hennessey’s association with the Chelsea star goes back to June 2007 when the Wolves man made his competitive debut for Wales in a goalless draw against the Czech Republic and swapped shirts with him afterwards.

That came several months after Cech underwent emergency brain surgery after a depressed fracture of the skull.

Hennessey is full of admiration for the way his opposite number has come back from his potentially life-threatening injury.

He said: “Petr is a fantastic goalkeeper who’s come back really strongly after the bad injury. It was the time when everyone was saying he was the best keeper in the Premier League, so it was great for me to come up against him.

“I got his shirt at the end which was a nice way to finish off my debut.”

While Hennessey is a big admirer of Cech and Chelsea’s achievements, the goalkeeper insists Wolves’ challenge at Stamford Bridge tomorrow should be relished as they attempt to pull off an upset.

He said: “It’s going to be tough for us but at the same time going to play Chelsea is a game to be enjoyed. If we didn’t believe in ourselves there wouldn’t be any point turning up and everyone is feeling good ahead of tomorrow.

” Funny things can happen in football and the lads showed for half an hour against Arsenal that we can compete against a top team.

“Chelsea are a great team. They’re doing really well and are in with a good shout of winning the title. But we’ll see if we can come back with a result.”

As Wolves strive to establish themselves as a Premier League club, Hennessey can only dream of the sort of proud record that Cech boasts.

While Cech has been a key part of Chelsea’s huge success since joining the Blues for £7million five years ago, Hennessey is only into his third season of first team football having recently completed 100 appearances for Wolves.

At 22, the Anglesey-born shotstopper is still trying to keep the No 1 spot and openly admits he is on a learning curve in the Premier League for the first time.

He said: “It’s been interesting for me and we’ve seen as a team how we can get punished by players in this league.

“I feel I’ve done OK so far and I’ve got a battle to keep the number one shirt here and help keep us up.”

Hennessey is a keen student of the game and uses the extensive Prozone data to analyse his and the team’s performances with goalkeeping coach Pat Mountain to see where he can improve.

He said: “I like to go back and watch the games again with Pat. As a player you always like to think of what you could have done better or differently.

“You’re only as good as your last game and there are always little things you can do to improve. HYou look at all different types of situations and see if you could have changed things.”