IF THE Scotland team under George Burley was the equivalent of the sitcom Friends, this episode would be "The One Where Ross Came Over All Grown Up".

In fact, given Ross Wallace's re-emergence into Scottish public awareness at Championship side Preston North End, it might be more apt to regard his situation as a case of Friends Reunited.

The former Celtic winger is the new darling of Deepdale and the poster boy for Alan Irvine's impressive tenure.

The nearly-men of English football, having frequently flirted with promotion to the Barclays Premier League only to be denied entry, are making another compelling challenge.

At the root of their revival is Wallace, a curiosity to both Martin O'Neill and Gordon Strachan at Celtic and a source of bewilderment to Roy Keane at Sunderland.

A suppressed talent at his previous illustrious employers, the flair player often flung into a full-back slot, he is flourishing at the creative hub of Irvine's eye-catching creation.

Wallace's progress at Preston has been rewarded with a place in the travelling party for Yokohama.

Diminishing options have left George Burley's squad looking distinctly experimental, but the manager's ethos of enterprising entertainment is ready-made for Wallace to blossom in.

Wallace said: "I feel I have matured as a player and that has come from getting regular games at a good level of football over a period of time.

"I feel I did okay at Celtic, but I never got the opportunity to play regularly in my favoured position and feel I needed a good year or so to settle and show my true abilities.

"There comes a point where you have to cut your ties. You can't afford to be sitting on the bench every other week when you are 23 or 24.

"I have had a good, long spell of playing first-team football now and that really makes a big difference to your confidence and the mental side of things.

"You suffer from a lack of experience when you are young and trying to make the breakthrough and it takes time to learn when to keep the ball, how to react to certain situations and how to build your general awareness of the game.

"I hope to make an appearance at some stage in the game this week and I see this as a good chance to stake my claim for a place in the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign.

"I realise people in Scotland may not have seen a lot of me since I left Celtic and I want to show what I am capable of.

"I have been playing steadily as a left-winger and I feel I have been reasonably successful."

He was a contemporary of Shaun Maloney and Aiden McGeady at Celtic.

While Maloney has since undertaken a wait-and-return at Aston Villa and McGeady has established himself as the architect of Celtic's attacking play, Wallace's route to prominence was less straightforward.

"I was always confident in my ability there, but I had Aiden in front of me on the left wing when I was playing left-back and he was playing out of his skin," he recalled.

"I have no doubts I made the right decision in leaving, though. There comes a point where you have to cut your ties. You can't afford to be sitting on the bench every other week when you are 23 or 24.

"When Shaun returned to the club from Aston Villa, it was clear I was going to find it tough.

"I feel I played well during the six months I spent at Premier League level with Sunderland and I'm with a team that's pushing for promotion in the Championship now."

He owes his new-found prominence to the influence of Irvine, the former assistant to David Moyes at Everton.

"I feel the manager will end up in the English Premier League at some point," said Wallace. "He breeds confidence in players and is extremely thorough in preparing for games."