Sam's the man: Ricketts backed to lead Wolves next season

Captain Sam Ricketts was today told he will lead Wolves next season as the club stands on the brink of a return to the Championship.

At 32, Ricketts is by far the oldest and most experienced of head coach Kenny Jackett's seven signings.

But Jackett is certain his first capture at Molineux has the energy and fitness levels to continue to play a vital role in the rebirth of Wolves and nurture a young, developing team.

"I have every confidence in him going forward that he'll be able to avoid any injuries that might hold him back," said Jackett.

"As you hit a certain age, you need to stay reasonably injury-free and he does look after himself very well.

"He's a good professional who lives his life right and comes in with genuine enthusiasm to train.

"He's an experienced player who knows the game and there have been many games this season where he's managed them very well on the pitch."

Since Jackett was appointed last June, four former captains – Roger Johnson, Karl Henry, Stephen Ward and Christophe Berra – have left as Wolves' squad has undergone many changes, although Johnson and Ward are set to return from loans this summer.

Jackett believes the calm leadership from Ricketts has been vital in setting the right example.

"There had been a lot of changes in the first half of the season - certainly up until February 1 - but Sam added experience and some stability," said the boss.

The praise for Ricketts comes as the skipper admitted winning promotion will be a career highlight.

Ricketts has played in all top five divisions, won over 50 Wales caps, played in the Premier League for three seasons with Bolton and won promotion from the Championship with Hull and from League Two with Swansea, where he also won the Football League Trophy.

But as Wolves require four points to guarantee promotion starting with Saturday's trip to Crewe, he said going up this season will rank alongside those achievements.

"You look back and the things you remember are promotions, maybe years in the Premier League or if you win a cup," he said.

"The position we're in now is what you play football for and work all season for.

"You put the hard work in during pre-season, then you scrap for certain wins when you come through by the odd goal.

"You do all of that to get in a situation like we are now and it's down to us to be clinical and make sure we continue winning."

Ricketts targeted earning the outright club record for clean sheets in a league season after equalling Wolves' 90-year milestone of 23 with last week's 2-0 win against Peterborough.

"We were talking about equalling the record and with five more games, we want to see how many more we can get," he said.

"In any successful side the defence is always tight - barring maybe Liverpool who can concede three and score six!

"The gaffer has always said if we can keep it at conceding zeros and ones, we're always likely to score one or more goals."

Ricketts added: "We've put ourselves in a great situation.

"We were watching the results from the teams with games in hand but ultimately we were just looking forward to the Crewe game and concentrating on doing our own jobs.

"We've all been level-headed throughout the season."

Leicester have secured promotion from the Championship with fewer points than Wolves and Ricketts stressed they can't ease off yet.

"It's been a phenomenal pace," he said. "We've got more points than Leicester and they're already automatically promoted.

"We're still fighting and we can't ease off.

"Crewe away will be another tough game but we'll try to win to get to 93 points."