Karl Henry set to hit Wolves milestone at Spurs

Karl Henry is set to achieve a Wolves milestone at Tottenham tomorrow – insisting it's a case of 'Back to the Future'.

The 29-year-old midfielder is preparing for his 200th Wolves league appearance at White Hart Lane, becoming the first Mick McCarthy signing for the club to achieve the honour.

Henry follows Jody Craddock and Joleon Lescott, who both did the same in recent times, while he has overtaken 'enforcer' contemporaries such as Keith Downing (191), Alex Rae (110) and Paul Ince (115), and becomes the first Wolves midfielder to clock up the feat since Neil Emblen in May 2001. Few if any of his peers can say they have ran more than Henry's lung-bursting 12 kilometres in a match.

But coming just 17 days after the team's best defensive display of the season earned a 1-1 draw at Arsenal, Henry believes his own big day will be a case of more of the same as he prepares to return to north London.

"We consider Spurs to be a similar challenge to Arsenal but, if we can go there and keep the back door shut, we can frustrate them," said Henry.

"We took a lot from a spirited performance there. We defended brilliantly and, even when we went down to 10 men, still got blocks on everything. We defended for our lives."

Henry had no idea about his appearance marker but is grateful to manager Mick McCarthy for selecting him so often.

"You tend not to know these things until somebody points it out to you," he said.

"I've obviously racked up a fair few games and have the gaffer to thank for picking me every week. I just get my head down and keep going.

"I've got to the stage where I'm happy here, I want to stay in this league and I'll continue to do what I do to the best of my ability.

"I had my spleen injury which kept me out for a while (in 2006-07) but have been lucky overall – I haven't missed too many games and have been here for nearly six years now."

And he's happy with the job he does too, adding: "I remember someone once telling me that it's the ones who don't put their foot in that get hurt.

"Sometimes I'll have a stinker but hopefully, more often than not, I'll do OK."

Looking back over his double century, Henry is looking for a repeat of two previous trips to the capital for inspiration in this game.

"We had some great results against the top clubs last season, but beating West Ham and Tottenham away the year before stand out as well," he recalled. "The win at West Ham came in a week or so when we were in real trouble but had three great results – one of them a draw at Villa."

The one thing missing from Henry's statistics is more goals – he only has six in his 199 league games.

But, cups aside, he hasn't netted in 126 matches since a memorable winner at Charlton on March 29, 2008, something he's keen to put right after going close against Spurs earlier in the season.

"I just wish I was on the brink of 200 goals!" he said. "That's something I'd like to improve on."

Henry recalled: "We didn't get promoted that year but it was a big goal.

"We were 2-1 up until Leroy Lita equalised in the 93rd minute, then I got the winner with four or five seconds left from Kevin Kyle's cross."

Looking ahead, Wolves go into tomorrow's encounter after seven games without a win, while Spurs could go joint-top if they win. But Henry insists there is no more pressure on Wolves.

"I don't think the pressure is on us any more than last season or the last couple of seasons," he said.

"Until we're safe, we're always under pressure and that's just the way it's going to be."

Wolves have three points from their last five games and Henry has mixed feelings about their current run.

"I don't think that's a fair return but we took a lot of positives from the Christmas period and we're three games unbeaten away from home," he said.

See also:

• Steve Morgan says Wolves have bought big

• Molineux stadium plans revealed

• Mick McCarthy backs Wolves defenders to stay strong