John Kear: Wales coach says they will look for revenge against Italy

Wales hammered Serbia in their opening qualifier at Llanelli

Wales head coach John Kear says his side will be looking for revenge in their Rugby League World Cup qualifier against Italy.

Italy beat Wales at the Millennium Stadium in the 2013 World Cup and the two teams face again in qualifying for next year's tournament on 29 October.

Wales thrashed Serbia 50-0 in their first qualifier on Saturday.

"It really irritates some of the team and they will want to set the record straight," Kear said.

"I'll certainly enjoy stoking the fires for that."

Despite the relative ease with which Kear's side beat Serbia, the Wales and Batley Bulldogs coach knows his side face a stiffer task when they play Italy.

"We do know it will be more difficult but all the Welsh guys know how difficult it is after the 2013 World Cup when at the Millennium they were turned over and I think we've got a score to settle," Kear told BBC Wales Sport.

"You might Italy are a step up in standard because with Serbia, more than half their squad was home grown whereas Italy only have four and the rest are heritage Australians that they fly over."

Wales ran in nine tries to beat Serbia in a comfortable performance in difficult conditions in Llanelli but Kear hopes the conditions are more favourable in Italy.

He continued, "The rain was a contributing factor to what could have been a negative performance but it wasn't, I thought we defended exceptionally well and considering the conditions, I thought we scored some superb tries.

"I certainly would hope we wouldn't have to cope with the rain or greasy conditions so we'll be able to play a bit more football."