Donachie was sidelined in the Round 2, 2-1 Melbourne Derby loss and it was revealed he had picked up a right quad injury.

The 24-year-old made his return in last week’s 3-1 loss to Sydney FC in the 68th minute, coming off the bench for Thomas Deng.

He admitted it was a mentally trying period, but made the most of his time off.

“I did a stockbrokers course when I had time off at Holmesglen, something just to keep the brain ticking over, so that was good and I’d recommend that,” Donachie said on Thursday.

“I was always interested in it and it was worthwhile, I hadn’t really studied while playing football.

“I think the first two weeks when I was on the crutches, I couldn’t really move and that was the hardest bit.

“Most athletes would say the same thing because you’re couch bound. We’ve got PlayStation and TV these days, so it wasn’t too hard to get through.

“After that I was pretty much in the gym full-time and coming in when I could drive the car again and I was fine after that.”

Donachie takes the leap of faith. By Ashley Perez Photography

Donachie also had opportunities in the youth team to get his match fitness up to scratch and was looking forward to the game against Newcastle.

“Mentally I try not to think about it, sometimes it can become a bit too much,” he said.

“On the weekend, I didn’t really know, it was an odd situation, I didn’t think I’d get any time on the weekend to be honest which worked out well because I didn’t think about it too much.

“By the time I got on, we went to 10-men pretty quickly. I had a bit more work than I thought I’d have, but it was good to be back out there.

“We’ve ticked all the boxes for if that situation occurs, I’ve played a few youth games as well, it’s good to get that time in the legs. We’ve done everything we can to go ahead.”