Jedinak played the final half hour as a substitute as Aston Villa drew 0-0 with rivals Birmingham City in England's Championship on Sunday.

The Australian midfielder earned praise from boss Steve Bruce, upon his first appearance since re-injuring his groin in mid-September.

Jedinak was named in Australia's provisional 30-man squad to face Honduras last week but there were no guarantees about his availability.

The veteran was withdrawn in similar circumstances from Australia's squad to face Syria, in light of the groin injury which required surgery in the off-season and has plagued him since April.

Villa had taken a cautious approach with Jedinak's latest comeback but he impressed upon his return.

"He was excellent. He negated their physical threat," Bruce said.

"It was important that he did that because we had a few problems with their physicality.

"I thought he was excellent when he came on – he did very, very well."

Jedinak's availability will be a huge boost for Australia, given fellow holding midfielder Mark Milligan is suspended for the first leg in Honduras.

The 33-year-old will have two more opportunity to play for Villa before the Socceroos camp commences in Honduras next week.