NEWPORT’S Chris Gunter might only be 25-years old but he’s already seen more than his fair share of heartache in a Welsh shirt, but he’s confident this time is different.

The Reading defender incredibly made his 57th appearance for the Dragons on Sunday as he played his part in a superb defensive rearguard display as Chris Coleman’s side collected an unlikely point that keeps them firing in Group B, hot on the heels of Israel and with a slight edge over Belgium and a potentially seismic six point advantage over the top seeds in the group, Bosnia.

It’s nothing less than a dream start for a nation who have perennially been out of contention for qualification after a handful of games in recent campaigns and while taking nothing for granted, the softly-spoken former St Julians School pupil.

“It’s our best start since the 2004 campaign but we know there is still plenty of work to do, we’ve got our targets and there is a lot of football left to be played, but so far, the jobs we’ve needed to do, we’ve been up to the task and done what has been asked of us,” Gunter explained.

“It feels different this time, the optimism behind us and the supporters back home seem really behind us and to me, it feels different now and exciting.

“I’ve said so many times in what feels like so many campaigns that if we could make a good start we could be a force to be reckoned with and it’s never worked out for us.

“Now we’ve got it (the start they wanted) and there is a group of people that want to hold on to it and become the first people in a long, long time to qualify Wales for a major tournament.

“There is so much work to do, we aren’t even half way through yet, but we have the belief.”

Gunter believes this result easily eclipses Wales’ 1-1 draw in Brussels last year in World Cup qualifying, especially as Belgium had already secured their place in Rio.

“Welsh passion and everything like that has seen us through, it’s a fantastic point for us and it keeps us going in this group, it’s been a really great start,” he said.

“It’s a better point that last year because it means something, last time was different, we came with a load of players missing and it was a fantastic performance, but in terms of the group it was too little too late.

“But this time around we produced another fantastic performance and it was obviously different because it means so much in the group, it’s a massive result for us.

“You could see at the end with the scenes of celebration that we weren’t over doing it, we aren’t even half way through the group yet, but we wanted to enjoy the moment with the fans because they’ve been fantastic.”