Neville Southall has tipped Hennessey to be a Wales great

"I agree with (ex-Wales keeper) Neville Southall who said Wayne could be Wales' keeper for a long time," said Toshack.

The Wolves stopper won his first cap in the 2-2 draw with New Zealand two weeks ago, then excelled in his full debut, Saturday's 0-0 Czech Republic draw.

Hennessey, 20, stands at an imposing 6ft 7ins and has profited from a series of blows to Wales' goalkeepers.

"We have been forced to play four different goalkeepers in six competitive matches, and that is not by design," said Toshack, who lost then-first-choice Danny Coyne to a knee injury at half-time in the New Zealand game.

"Injuries, people saying they want to stop playing and others not in the club sides, have made things hard for me.

All Wayne needs now is more experience John Toshack

"Some countries don't use four different keepers in 25 years. The only bright spot has been Wayne doing well.

"He had been out on loan to Stockport and set a Football League record for consecutive clean sheets, then found himself in the Wolves team due to injuries for their play-off semi-final matches with West Brom.

"Those games for Wolves were important for Wayne. They were high-pressure matches in front of full houses and he did very well."

Toshack hopes Hennessey can get more first-team action at Wolves, a possibility as previous first-choice Matt Murray faces a lengthy spell out with a damaged shoulder.

That could leave the Anglesey man in pole position to take the Wales number one jersey in the friendly against Bulgaria on 22 August and the Euro 2008 qualifier with Germany on 8 September.