Heart's Sarkies back on track

But he hopes his return to full fitness, and a Melbourne Heart march into the A-League finals, will deliver on the promise which - through no fault of his own - has yet to be delivered.

So impressed was then-Socceroos coach Guus Hiddink with Sarkies' performances as a train-on squad member at the team's pre-2006 World Cup camp in the Netherlands that he explored the option of dropping an experienced player and adding the 19-year-old to his final squad.

Regulations scuttled that plan.

Sarkies won wider fame a year later, when he planted a kiss on then-Prime Minister John Howard's head after playing and scoring in Melbourne Victory's A-League grand final win.

But a savage run of injuries through his time at Victory, Adelaide United and last season at Heart derailed the midfielder's career.

At 25, Sarkies is enjoying his first extended taste of first-team football in years, and is focused only on the future, not what might have been.

"I feel very good at the moment, injury-free. It's better to be playing than not playing," Sarkies said.

"You have your highs and lows, but I guess you've just got to enjoy the highs when you do get them.

"And when you get your lows, you've got to think back to your highs to give you the confidence and inspiration."

Melbourne Heart's strange season, in which it have picked up seven wins in an eight-match stretch, then just six points from its other 12 games, reaches tipping point on Saturday night.

Fifth-placed Heart takes on sixth-placed Newcastle away - the Jets one of the competition's form teams and clambering rung by rung up the ladder towards the finals.

It's likely nine points from its remaining seven games would be enough for Heart to make the finals, and beating those around it is vital in making that happen.

While Heart is playing well, it is lacking cutting edge in the final third and missing experienced duo Fred and Matt Thompson and three Olyroos.

But Sarkies says if Heart can start picking up the points now, its momentum will be rolling by the time it gets back to full strength.

"We'd like to do more than (just make the finals). We've got the players, we've got the players to come back into the team as well," he said.

"But first we've got to consolidate with a few wins to get us into that finals position permanently."