With a World Cup in his sights and injury hell behind him, Nishan Velupillay is ready to make up for lost time.
Velupillay missed the A-League Men grand final in May because of an ankle injury that required surgery, also ruling him out of Australia's World Cup-sealing victories over Japan and Saudi Arabia in June.
The 24-year-old had three goals in five World Cup qualifiers before that and had become a clear fixture in Tony Popovic's plans.
Then, Velupillay injured his hamstring in pre-season and missed the first five games of this season, meaning he wasn't in contention for the November international window against Venezuela and Colombia.
Velupillay, who returned off the bench against Macarthur before starting in Victory's 2-0 win over Adelaide, now feels ready to find form.
"The worst part about it is probably watching from the sidelines and seeing games where, I guess you can impact the game, and you know you can change it," he said of Victory's form dip during his absence.
"(It was) kind of mixed emotions - I was delighted to watch the Socceroos games, knowing that we qualified, and those games are pretty special.
"But it's just part of football and a learning experience for me and I'm happy I got through it."
With Australia drawn against the United States, Paraguay and a European qualifier, things are starting to feel real - and Velupillay wants to be part of it.
"It's at the back of my mind to be back there, but I know I've got to produce here first," he said.
Velupillay, whose short-term focus is boosting his match fitness, confirmed Popovic's staff had been in regular contact and let him know what they needed to see from him.
"First of all, it's probably the minutes I need to play - get that back up," he said.
"Obviously, I missed a lot of football.
"They have been in constant communication with me, seeing how I am physically. I think it's just more like, now the building blocks are in place, now I can see what else I can add to my game.
"It's always nice to know that you're important to them and still at the front of their mind.
"The confidence for me (came) from, while I was there, I could score and could impact the game. I just hope I can do that here at Victory, and then hopefully, again, in the Socceroos."
The Victory have a new spark with their main attacking threat back.
Victory boss Arthur Diles hailed Velupillay's attitude and expected the club and Socceroos to reap the benefits, starting with Saturday's derby against Melbourne City.
"In the coming weeks, I think we'll see him back at his best," Diles said.
"And I don't even think we've seen his best yet. I think last year was pretty much scraping the surface of Nish and what he can do, and he just gave us a glimpse.
"And I'm really looking forward to Nish, over the next six months, doing everything he can to make our club successful, first and foremost, and doing everything he can to be on the plane to go to a World Cup."
