Jets coach Craig Deans is hopeful of having the club's games record-holder, Ben Kantarovski, back for the second half of the season after he returned to full training this week.
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Kantarovski had been sidelined since late November last year with a nerve problem, which has caused calf issues and is believed to have led to hamstring tears that marred the end of his 2019-20 season.
It was thought the home-grown midfielder, who has 196 A-League appearances for Newcastle, may need surgery. However, Deans said that was not planned at this stage and Kantarovski had instead had further injections before returning to full training in recent days.
"He's had a couple of injections in his lower back to try and help ease the pressure on the nerve," Deans told the Newcastle Herald.
"He had one about two weeks ago and another on Monday I think, but he's trained the last three or four days.
"It's going to take a fair bit of time for him [to play again], because he's obviously missed a lot of football.
"It's going to be a slow process and hopefully there's no more flare-ups of the nerves.
"He was doing cardio work in the off-season but that's obviously very different to football sessions and games, so he's missed a lot.
"We just have to rehab him well, get him back into full training as much as possible and fingers crossed the nerve issue doesn't come back, then it's another experienced player for the second half of the year hopefully."
Kantarovski, now 29, debuted as a 16-year-old for Newcastle but has lost almost two seasons since to serious knee injuries.
The latest problem has again put his playing future under a cloud, although he is contracted to Newcastle until the end of next season.
Deans, whose playing career was cut short by injury, hoped Kantarovski could get back on track.
"You don't want players like him, who have been here their whole career, to go out this way," he said.
"So hopefully he sees himself back to full fitness and you can make a decision on him from a football point of view and not an injury one.
"It's difficult. I've been in it myself. It's not a nice place to be and you need good people around you and I think he's got that with some of the older boys and the coaching staff as well."
Meanwhile, the Jets were sweating on results of scans on Jason Hoffman's injured groin. Hoffman has been out since starring in the 1-0 win over Melbourne City on February 7, which was his 150th game for Newcastle.
Deans said Hoffman was sent for scans on Wednesday.
"He tried to come back a couple of weeks ago and it wasn't quite right so we eased him right back, but it's still not 100 per cent," he said. "That [City win] was the best game I'd seen him play for a while, so it's just a shame this has come at a time when he's playing good football."
Hoffman's injury means the sixth-placed Jets are likely to field an unchanged side against Wellington on Sunday at McDonald Jones Stadium from the line-up that beat Melbourne Victory away 1-0 last Sunday.
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