Speed hails Ramsey mentality

Speed hails Ramsey mentality

Published Mar. 19, 2011 3:15 p.m. ET

The 20-year-old midfielder is poised to make his first international appearance since recovering from a badly-broken leg as England visit the Millennium Stadium next Saturday. Ramsey last played for his country in November 2009 and spent most of last year on the sidelines after suffering his horrific injury last February. He is now back in contention at Arsenal after building his fitness up during loan spells at Nottingham Forest and Cardiff and Speed is set to involve him in next week's eagerly-anticipated Euro 2012 qualifier. Speed said: "Aaron will be looking forward to it as much as anyone. "When you see him play for Wales and the Under-21s, and Arsenal play in the same way, he does seem to suit international football. "Hopefully that will be the case next week. His recovery says a lot about him physically and mentally. "He is a young lad, so his body has been able to cope, and I have watched him play in the last couple of weeks and he does steam into tackles. So, mentally he is a very strong person." Ramsey has been named in Speed's 25-man squad for the clash along with two other notable recent absentees in Gareth Bale and Craig Bellamy. Wales have lost their opening three qualifiers and hopes of reaching the finals seem distant, but the returning trio offer hope of pulling off a shock win over the neighbours. Speed said: "They are match-winners. They can be the difference between a win and a draw or a draw and a defeat. "The more players like that we have the better chance we have but those players are nothing without the rest of the team. "We are concentrating on ourselves, it is down to us, but we do know England have got players who can win matches. "But so have we, and that is what we are going to concentrate on. "I think everyone will be expecting England to win and rightly so, if you look at the formbook, but it is my job to try to stop that." One player definitely not returning is Manchester United veteran Ryan Giggs. The 37-year-old retired from international football in 2007 but Speed's appointment last December sparked speculation of a comeback. That has since been ruled out, as has a coaching role for the time being, but Giggs will be in Cardiff next week working in the media. Speed said: "Ryan is a very busy man. He is getting on a bit and is still playing in the Premier League, so needs all the time to himself. "But I spoke to him and he might pop in for a couple of hours during the week."

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