AS Sam Ricketts prepares to relaunch his international career after injury, the Wanderers full-back is intent on furthering the legacy left by former manager Gary Speed.

Tonight’s friendly in Cardiff against Costa Rica would normally be an occasion to celebrate for Ricketts, who is poised to make a comeback for Wales just over a year since winning the last of his 64 caps.

A ruptured Achilies had cost him nine months of football at the Reebok, and meant he was forced to watch from the stands as Speed continued to drag Welsh football out of the doldrums with a series of impressive results against the likes of Montenegro, Bulgaria, Switzerland and Norway.

That era came to a sudden and untimely end in November last year when the 42-year-old former Whites midfielder was found dead at his Cheshire home.

New boss Chris Coleman leads the side into their first game since Speed’s death and wasted no time in recalling the 30-year-old defender, who had been kept very close to the camp even given his fitness problems.

And while Ricketts is happy to be donning Welsh red once again – against the opponents Speed faced on his own debut in May, 1990 – he concedes the occasion will be an emotional one.

“Wales have done extremely well recently and that is one of the things I have missed out on,” he said. “I have watched from the sidelines, so it will be nice to be back involved and, hopefully, we can keep this run going. Gary passed away in tragic circumstances. If you look on the football side of it you can see how well he had done, but even bigger than that is what he meant to his family and friends.”

Wales are ranked 42nd in the world, a far cry from their lowest-ever rank of 117th, achieved after defeat to England last August.

As a result, they were drawn as bottom seeds for a World Cup qualifying group containing Croatia, Serbia, Belgium, Scotland and Macedonia. But the team’s rapid rise to prominence in the months after their defeat at Wembley raised hopes considerably that Wales could qualify for Brazil in 2014.

“We’ve made huge strides,” Ricketts said. “These teams are looking at us and are maybe quite worried, whereas previously they might have thought it would have been an easy win for them.”

While tonight’s game will reflect on Speed’s achievements as a player and manager for his country, the next step is for former Fulham and Coventry City chief Coleman to pick up the baton and try to accomplish what no other Welsh manager has done since 1958, and that is to get the country to the finals of a national tournament.

Echoing the words of Coleman, Ricketts believes it is a case of carrying on in a similar vein.

“When he took over I spoke to him on the phone and we have gone through a few things together,” he said. “He is looking to progress the side, like Gary did.”