Luke Davies-Uniacke has been buoyed by the growth of North Melbourne's young midfield brigade in his absence and is excited to re-enter the fray against AFL finals hopefuls Adelaide.
The 24-year-old ball-winner has missed the last six weeks with a hamstring injury but has been cleared to play at Adelaide Oval on Saturday.
The green light comes after Davies-Uniacke completed a 12km running session last Friday - during the Kangaroos' week off - and returned to full training this week.
"I'm feeling really confident in my hamstring. I've hit all my markers," Davies-Uniacke told reporters on Wednesday.
"It was frustrating. I had a good start to the year, then had some tags and fell a bit out of form, but I was working my way back into it.
"So to come up short with that hamstring was disappointing but to see where the boys are growing now, it's been great to watch."
George Wardlaw, Will Phillips, Harry Sheezel have all been given greater midfield opportunities in recent weeks with Davies-Uniacke, Hugh Greenwood and captain Jy Simpkin all having stints on the sidelines.
"I'm loving watching them but I can't wait to play with them again," Davies-Uniacke said.
"There's never been a doubt on the future but I'm really impressed with the young guys and everyone coming through."
North Melbourne are on a 12-match losing streak and face a huge task to upset the Crows, who are desperate to keep a firm grip on their top-eight spot.
The Kangaroos have not won in 10 previous visits to Adelaide Oval, including losses to the hosts in each of the last two seasons.
"We just attack it how we normally attack each game and have full confidence going in," Davies-Uniacke said.
"They're playing some great footy at the minute ... they're a great squad and it's going to be tough."
