Injured Brumbies playmaker Matt Giteau says he's 'pretty confident' of playing against his former Western Force team-mates in Perth on Friday night.
Giteau, who suffered a tear in his left thigh at training two weeks ago, will be given until Tuesday to prove his fitness ahead of the mouth-watering season opener against his old club.
The 27-year-old was unable to take part in the Brumbies' two trial losses against the Hurricanes and Waratahs, but insists the injury is showing significant signs of improvement.
"It's a little frustrating, obviously you want to develop combinations and train as much as possible so from that side of things it's disappointing and frustrating but things are starting to progress well," Giteau told reporters on Monday.
"I'm doing a lot of the running and I'm getting a lot of confidence out of that."
"I've never torn anything before so it's hard for me to really comment. Every time I go out and I do the running and I push the leg more and more I get through everything and I feel fine."
"At the moment I'm pretty confident I'll play but having said that I've never torn it so I don't really know the limitations."
Coach Andy Friend is not quite so optimistic but says he's willing to give his prized recruit more time to prove his fitness.
"We're going to give it one more day, Gits is still attempting to be fit and get ready so as a team we just feel if we can give him every opportunity it would be best for us so we're going to do that," Friend said.
"He's honestly still a 50-50 (chance of playing)."
While the decision is now in the hands of Brumbies medical staff, Giteau insists he'll only play if fully fit.
"I don't want to compromise the group, so for me it's all about being able to play to my full potential," he said.
"If at any stage I feel like I'm going to compromise this group there's no way that I'll go out there and play, because obviously I want what's best for the side and what's best for the side is to have 15 or 22 fit guys out there playing."
Having previously stated that he would happily play at flyhalf or inside-centre upon his return to the Brumbies, Giteau made no secret of his preference to wear the No.10 jersey this season.
"I'm not too sure," the 78-Test veteran said when asked where he expects to line up in the backline.
"Obviously I've trained in both positions (inside-centre and flyhalf) and out of the two I'd probably say flyhalf would probably be the one where I'd get more involved, so that'd be the one that I'd take."
Friend confirmed his intention to grant Giteau his wish, with young-gun Christian Lealiifano to fill the role of second playmaker at inside-centre if the veteran plays.
"We'll probably look to play him at 10 to be honest with you and look to keep Christian there at 12," Friend said.
Meanwhile, Giteau admits he's desperate to line-up against his old side despite the frosty reception he will inevitably receive at ME Bank Stadium.
"It's a game obviously that when you first looked at the draw for this year (it was) one you eyed off," he said.
"Obviously I've got a bit of history there with the boys and it' certainly a game that you don't