With a place in the team no longer guaranteed, Sydney FC defender Adam Griffiths hopes to get a frustrating season back on track against his former A-League club.
A suspension to new signing Tiago Calvano means Griffiths is set to earn a recall for Saturday's crunch clash with Newcastle at Hunter Stadium.
Griffiths has not started in Sydney's past four games, mostly due to a knee injury.
He was available for selection in last week's 3-1 loss to Melbourne Victory but came off the bench as coach Frank Farina preferred Tiago and Seb Ryall in central defence.
That indicates Griffiths still has to convince Farina he should be a regular starter but the 33-year-old believes he's ready to go on a strong run of form with his injury problems behind him.
"The last injury was a knock on the knee and it was disappointing because I tried to play (against Adelaide in late December) but wasn't right," said Griffiths, who has played in 10 of Sydney's 18 matches.
"Now I've made sure it's right so it doesn't happen again.
"Hopefully I can kick on now and get some form coming into the finals.
"I'm feeling good, feeling sharp again so I'm looking forward to the challenge."
Griffiths made 38 appearances for the Jets from 2007-2009 before stints in Saudi Arabia and China.
He will line-up alongside his twin brother Joel and against his younger sibling, Jets striker Ryan.
He said it was always special returning to Newcastle but there would be no room for sentiment.
"The fans are always brilliant up in Newcastle, they've stuck by their team through good times and bad," Griffiths said.
"But now I'm with the Sky Blues and everything's for them."
The Jets (22 points) and Sydney (20) are in similarly desperate positions with both in a crucial period in terms of their finals hopes.
Sydney could without Socceroo Brett Emerton, who was having scans on Tuesday on a suspected neural problem, while left back Fabio is also suspended.
Joel Griffiths, Alessandro Del Piero and Jason Culina didn't train fully with the team on Monday but are expected to be fit.
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