Sydney defender Shannon Cole has declared himself 100 percent fit ahead of Saturday's Hyundai A-League Grand Final against Melbourne after overcoming the hamstring injury that kept him out of the Sky Blues' previous two matches.
Cole, who suffered the injury on debut for the Socceroos against Indonesia in Brisbane earlier this month, completed a lengthy session with the full squad on Wednesday.
"It feels good, no problem," Cole told Sportal.
"It feels the same as the other leg. Based on everything I've done today, it was a full session and a hard session and it feels good now."
"Obviously it's a matter of just doing all the smart things and looking after it, but as far as the medical staff are concerned I'm out of their hair."
Coach Vitezslav Lavicka was more cautious when quizzed over Cole's availability for the decider, but is also confident the 25-year-old will be available for selection.
"Shannon joined us first time for the full training ... I'm happy for him," Lavicka said.
"He looks very well but still we have a couple of days before the game, a couple of trainings and we make the decision later about him."
While Cole's likely return is a major boost for the Sky Blues, Lavicka admits Sebastian Ryall is also in the frame to start at right-back after filling in admirably.
"It's good for me as a coach, we will discuss about it but we are all happy Shannon is back," he said of his selection dilemma.
Cole added of the battle to reclaim his starting spot: "That's good for the team that we're both fit and both hungry to play. I mean all we can do is train and work hard and the rest is up to the manager."
Striker Mark Bridge and stand-in skipper Terry McFlynn sat out the final half of Wednesday's session but are both definite starters, while Ryall pulled up sore but is also available for selection.
Meanwhile, Cole says confidence within the camp is high and believes the fact Sydney had to play Wellington Phoenix in the preliminary final could work in the Sky Blues' favour.
"You can always argue both sides of it but I think it's a good thing for us coming off a good performance," he said.
"Obviously it's unfortunate that Johnny (Aloisi) won't be with us on the weekend, but apart from that it's very positive coming out of last week's game for all the boys."
"The boys are very sharp, joining back in today I found it difficult, not with the pace but just how sharp everyone is."
"And having a couple of weeks off it just shows me how sharp all the boys are and that they're in form, and that's good and I've got to catch up quickly."
Asked if the injuries to Steve Corica and Aloisi will serve as added motivation for the rest of the team, Cole replied: "For all the boys it's a big point. They are two senior guys that have helped a lot of us. It'll provide a lot of motivation - not that you need much motivation for a game like this - but it's just a little something extra that will add to the fire."