STRIKER Sam Vokes is relishing the prospect of linking up with superstar Gareth Bale once again and helping to fire Wales to Euro 2016 qualification.

The Burnley front man has not played for the national team since scoring in the 3-1 friendly win over Iceland on March 5 last year.

Vokes suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury only weeks later and, having missed Wales’ super start to the campaign, he’s desperate to make up for lost time.

He says he’s ready to start Saturday’s top of the table clash with Israel in Haifa and he can’t wait to get on the end of Bale’s crosses.

“He’s a world class player now and from a personal point of view he’s great to play with,” said Vokes.

“My last few goals for Wales have come off the back of him getting crosses into the box so it’s always going to help me playing alongside someone like that.

“I can’t wait to get started; it’s been a long wait for me coming back into the picture with Wales,” he added.

“It’s been nearly a year now. It was March 30 that I did my knee and it’s been a long road back.

“You set your targets of when you want to get back and this was the first international that was a realistic target so it’s one I’ve been working towards.

“I’ve been building up to that 90 minutes during my rehab and at club level and I’m ready.”

Vokes admits there were times when he thought he might never get back to the level he was at before his injury and he thanked national manager Chris Coleman for helping him through the dark times.

“With that sort of injury a few years ago you had to retire so those thoughts do go through your head but I feel a lot stronger for it now,” said the 25-year-old.

“You’re always watching the games and wishing you were out there.

“I got a call from the gaffer and he’s been great to me throughout my rehab because I think he went through the same thing.

“He invited me down just to be around the lads for a week ahead of the Belgium game during my rehab.

“There’s a great feel about the place and I felt that when I came down.

“We want to take the campaign to the next level and that’s qualifying. I want to be a part of that.”

Vokes is ready for an intimidating atmosphere on Saturday but he is confident that Wales can cope with anything Israel throw at them.

“It’s a big fixture, we all know that,” he said. “We’ve given ourselves a great platform in this group and so have Israel.

“That’s why it’s such a big game because we’ve both started the group so well.

“The pressure comes with big games and this is one of the biggest in the group.

“We can’t hide from that but we’ve got a lot of experience in the side now.

“The lads are playing in this type of atmosphere week in and week out at club level now so we can deal with that.”