Colosimo still has his heart set on finals action - Sydney Morning Herald

High hopes ... Simon Colosimo is confident. Photo: Sebastian Costanzo

MELBOURNE Heart's Simon Colosimo returns from suspension in Tuesday's A-League match against the Newcastle Jets insisting the cellar dwellers still believe they'll play in the finals.

The last-placed Heart host the seventh-placed Jets at AAMI Park and the home side will be boosted by the return of Colosimo and fellow central defender Patrick Gerhardt, also back from suspension.

Socceroos Richard Garcia and Aziz Behich are also recalled after being rested from last week's 3-2 loss to the Phoenix.

The Heart blew a 2-0 lead in the first 16 minutes in Wellington while the Jets went down to Melbourne Victory 3-2 last week after former England international Emile Heskey had levelled at two-two in the 73rd minute.

Colosimo said sitting out last week's game after collecting five yellow cards was a painful experience.

''It's very hard. It's hard to take every punch so to speak,'' the 33-year-old said on Monday.

''There's one yellow that I probably didn't want to have and that was for a bit of chat back to the referee.

''Apart from that, I don't think there's anything malicious in any of them. It's just part and parcel of it.

''I'll try to be a little bit more careful with the chatter.''

Colosimo said individual mistakes had been costing the Heart dearly but the belief was still there.

''The table doesn't lie,'' he said. ''There's still confidence we've got the right formula and the right players.

''It's been a couple of things we've done as individuals. We're probably just letting ourselves down.

''We'll fix that and we still believe that we'll be playing finals.

''Tomorrow we can say we'll put last year behind us and start the new year.''

Colosimo said the Jets were perhaps a touch unlucky to be only seventh on the table.

''They've played really good in patches,'' he said.

''There's always talk about Heskey. He's got seven goals in the A-League so of course there's going to be talk.

''Not only because he's a big unit but he knows how to score goals and he really helps their team link up.

''But it's not only about him. Ryan Griffiths, we know, can turn a game very quickly.

''Ruben Zadkovich is playing really well so it's not about one individual. It's about containing them as a group.''

AAP