Newcastle Jets striker Roy O'Donovan has a point to prove to Hunter fans this season.

After a calamitous Grand Final loss last year, that saw him controversially banned until this weekend, he's raring to pay Jets fans back against his former club.

"I'm looking forward to the game. It's been quite a while so I can't wait to get going again," the former Sunderland and Central Coast Mariners goal-getter cluttered in his sterling Irish tones.

"It's great for the media, it's a great script, it wouldn't matter to me if I was playing against the local team in the dog park. I just want to play football.

"I've been working really hard with the fitness coaches, running a lot of yards, I'm in good shape. Come Sunday, I'll be ready to go. 

"I'm looking forward to the game against the Mariners, I've been trying to be the best pro I can be."

Ernie Merrick is set to rush the 33-year-old back into the starting lineup this weekend despite admitting the striker isn't "match fit" and it's "unfair" to expect so much of the Irishman. 

But O'Donovan isn't one to shy away from the spotlight, nor the pressure. If he was, he might not be so easily forgiven for his lapses of discipline.

Although, in a league and a market desperate for bums on seats, O'Donovan knows that big personalities rarely go astray, and recognises his own effect on derby crowds.

"Last year ignited it, me moving up the road. The Jets probably thought, 'Who have we signed here?,'" he said.

"What I'm good at is scoring goals and creating goals. The team have been playing well, we've just been unlucky. 

"It's a great derby, I hope there's a lot of eyes on it because it's a great product, the A-League. Fans cheering from minute one to minute 90.

"I'm going to get abuse from the Mariners fans but that's pantomime, that's what its about. Jets fans need to get down there and back me up."