LAWRENCE Dallaglio will return to action for Wasps tonight, just four months after fracturing his ankle.

Wasps' talisman has been out since the first match of the Lions summer tour of New Zealand.

He had a plate and five screws inserted and was expected to be out for six months but has defied the odds to make it for this evening's Powergen Cup tie against Cardiff Blues.

The 33-year-old said: "I'm very excited. It's great to be involved in a game that gets the juices flowing and this certainly does.

"I'm absolutely right and looking forward to it.

"I've been sat on the sidelines watching the Wasps guys train and they've done tremendously well, a great start to the season so I didn't want to leave it too long before I came back."

And he says that, at this stage of his career, his comeback couldn't come soon enough.

He said: "The clock's ticking on everyone's career. And what adds the urgency for me is that I've been at this club for 15 years and the last three have been the most successful in the club's history.

"I've been lucky to be a part of that and I believe we are part of something special at the club at the minute. We have the opportunity to keep that going. I want to be part of that going forward for as long as I can be and that was what the motivation was to get back into this team and get back into something that I enjoy very much."

Wasps coach Ian McGeechan is delighted to have the former England World Cup winner back.

He said: "You can see the difference. On the training field Lawrence is very enthusiastic and having him back is a tremendous boost."

Dallaglio has also refused to rule out an England comeback.

He said: "When you have had a long-term injury the main priority is to get back on to the rugby pitch in a black shirt, playing for Wasps and then we'll be able to see what level I am at.

"I have the desire to play international rugby but whether I have the ability we'll have to wait and see."

England head coach Andy Robinson has already said he would welcome Dallaglio back into the fold.

But before then, Dallaglio has his eyes only on tonight's Anglo-Welsh encounter.

He said: "I've got a bit of catching up to do, but it starts on Friday. I've missed being in the changing room and I've missed the smell, the taste, the thrill of it and I'm very much looking forward to getting back. I see this game as the ideal start for me as it's one that gets the hairs on the neck standing up.

And he warned the Welshmen that he is totally focused on them despite everyone else talking about him and England again.

He said: "I'm really looking forward to playing against Cardiff and not beyond that. England is another story. We're entering a phase in our season now where the stakes are getting a little bit higher. We've got a tough Powergen Cup game and a top of the table clash against Sale.

"We've got two massive European Cup games, including one against the holders. So there's plenty on my rugby menue for the next four or five weeks without thinking about anything else."

Cardiff Blues sent out a message to Dallaglio and co with an opening day 37-20 victory against Saracens, and they have added two British Lions to their starting XV for tonight's crunch match against the English champions.

Tom Shanklin and Martyn Williams two key members of the Wales Grand Slam-winning team have been slotted into the starting line-up, in what is likely to be the make-or-break match of Pool B.

McGeechan says Wasps are taking this year's Powergen Cup very seriously having beaten London Irish 30-26 at the weekend.

He said: "If we are going out to compete we should have a pride in what we're doing. That doesn't change whoever goes on the field in a Wasps jersey and if you keep that then that momentum is very important in the way that you train and the way you can play the next game.