Fit again Jedinak itching to play for Palace and Socceroos

Inspirational Australia skipper Mile Jedinak has declared himself fit for club and country as he jumps back into contention for Crystal Palace’s London derby against West Ham on Sunday (AEDT) after a month out with a hamstring injury.

Mile Jedinak has come out on the other side of his injury worries

Sorely missed in the Socceroos' engine room as they slumped to a shock 2-0 FIFA World Cup qualifying loss to Jordan last week, the 31 year old midfield general scored the winner for the Eagles from the penalty spot the last time they faced the Hammers.

With Palace soaring up to the giddy heights of fourth spot in the Premier League in his absence, there are no guarantees that Jedinak will start at Selhurst Park against sixth-placed West Ham.

Regardless, Jedinak - who has made only four appearances in all competitions so far this season - is simply pleased to be fit again and ready to reproduce the combative qualities which have carried him to great heights over the past two seasons.

"It seems like I’ve been out forever and have missed a lot of football but I am on the other side now and I feel the better for it,” said Jedinak, whose last club game was off the bench in the 1-0 home loss to league leader Manchester City in mid September.

"It's not nice when you are out but you have to make sure you are right when you get back and tick all the boxes to make sure you stay healthy and fit for as long as you can.

"If I am called upon against West Ham, I will be itching to get out there and try and impose myself on the game.

"They have had some big away wins and on the back of our form this year, we’re full of confidence – it’s going to be one to watch, that’s for sure."

It hurt Jedinak to watch Australia wilt under the challenge of Jordan in Amman and his clean bill of health will provide a significant lift heading into November's Group B qualifier against Kyrgyzstan in Canberra.

"It’s never good to miss games for your club and you double that when you miss games for your national team also … not being around the group, you really miss that and you want to help anyway you can," he added.

"I came off the bench when we lost against Jordan last time over there (2-1 in 2012) and I know how hard a place it is to go.

"The boys had that performance last week and people make their judgements.

"But we analyse it, put it behind us and try and rectify it. The important thing is to move on to the next game and hopefully it was just a little blip on the radar.

"Up until that point we had done really well in the group. We won't dwell too much on the Jordan result, as a group we need to see where we came up short and the good thing there is a game just around the comer now.

"We will all be itching to get out there again to get the result we want, myself included.

"We have three home games to come and we're going to have great crowd support behind us and we know that's going to massive, and that’s a big factor for us."

Though he almost joined Stoke City doing the last transfer window as his automatic starting spot at Palace could no longer be guaranteed by boss Alan Pardew, the club's captain is not prepared to feed any more speculation into his future, declaring: "There’s not a lot to talk about there. It's been and gone now.

"You are there to do a job, to be professional and you continue to do so long as you are called upon.

"I know I have my part to play and I’ll do that to the best of my ability for as long as I can."