TOM Rees, Joe Simpson, Simon Shaw...and now Phil Vickery.

The Wasps team is being injected with outstanding quality on a game-by-game basis and Vickery will be the fourth player of substance to return in the last three weeks when they go to Worcester tomorrow.

Director of rugby Tony Hanks said: “If he’s confident and we’re confident that he’s ready, he’ll play.”

The England and Lions prop had neck surgery last October. It was the fourth major surgery of his career but he says retiring was never in his mind.

He said: “Being a professional rugby player is my job, it’s how I pay the bills and provide for my family. There is no way I will quit before I have to.

“I haven’t got an awful lot of time for people who look back at the end of their careers and reel off a list of ‘ifs’ and ‘maybes’.

“In my book the only question is ‘Did you or didn’t you?’ I would never forgive myself if I looked back and realised I actually retired two or three years early.

“The important thing is, did I give it another go? And the answer will be yes.”

It’s an attitude which has impressed everyone at Wasps.

Hanks said: “What he’s gone through over the last five or six months is one thing, but Vicks has had to do it before I don’t know how many times.

“He can turn around and say, ‘I’ve got a World Cup winner’s medal, I’ve got this, I’ve got that.’ You think, why don’t you just pack it in?

“But he keeps going. He loves playing and he brings the enthusiasm you’d expect of an academy player.

“The good thing now that he’s back in full training is he’s tired and not chipping away at us as much as he normally would. That’s a really good sign.

“You know when Vicks means business. He has the ability just to flick the switch.”

A fit-again Vickery would give Wasps a massive lift, but the club won’t play him if everyone is not 100 per cent sure he is ready.

Vickery said: “Some people reckon I’m mad but I had to get the problem sorted out anyway, whether I played rugby again or not, so I was always going to have the operation and do the rehab.

“The neck feels really good now, there is much more movement than before the injury and no more chance of injury than before.”