Wales midfielder Andy King expects another rough ride from Cyprus - but insists Chris Coleman's table-toppers will not back down in the heat of Nicosia.
Cyprus handed out some tough treatment in Cardiff 11 months ago when Real Madrid superstar Gareth Bale, in particular, was targeted by the visitors in a 2-1 Wales win.
But it was Wales who were reduced to 10 men when King received a straight red card for a dangerous challenge just after half-time and the Dragons had to hold on for a precious three points.
"Looking back it might have been a little over the top from me but when teams want to kick us you need to understand we are going to kick them back as well," King said.
"It doesn't make what happened all right and I have had to learn from it because to miss two games was disappointing in such a good campaign.
"It was also nerve-wracking watching the second half from the tunnel.
"But we have to expect a similar challenge from them, if not more so.
"They are in their home country so they might think they can get away with a little bit more.
"We're expecting a tough game against a strong, physical team and we have to make sure we're ready for it."
The 26-year-old King is in prime position to replace the suspended Joe Allen at Nicosia's GPS Stadium having impressed under new Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri in the early weeks of the season.
King has started every game in Leicester's strong start to the Barclays Premier League campaign and admits his confidence is high.
"With the new manager coming in you're back to square one and you've got to impress again," King said.
"Hopefully I've managed to do that and it's been a good start for me personally and for the team.
"But we've got to go a long way to go and we've got to keep that going now."
Group B leaders Wales welcome Israel on Sunday on the back of the Cyprus game and two victories will take them to next summer's European Championship in France.
But King says they can not allow themselves to look further ahead than Thursday, when temperatures will not be far short of 30 degrees despite the 9.45pm local kick-off time.
"It's massively exciting, you can see the hype around the city - even coming into the hotel there are more people taking notice of us as a team," King said.
"We've got two massive games where we can do something and we want to get it done as soon as possible.
"But we can't look too far ahead and Cyprus is a massive game because they'll be thinking if they beat us they've got a chance as well."
Source: PA
