The Jets confirmed on Thursday that Ugarkovic has inked a two-year extension to his current deal after returning to Australia from Croatia.

During his three seasons in Europe, Ugarkovic’s performance for NK Osijek saw the talented midfielder feature for Croatia’s National Under-19 side and soon after caught the eye of then Olyroo coach Aurelio Vidmar.

Ugarkovic became a regular during the Aussies failed Rio 2016 qualification campaign, and it was during this time he started attracting the attention of German clubs.

However, his younger brother's serious medical issue meant the former Sydney United junior had to put his European career on hold.

“That was one of the reasons why I decided to come home was to be close to family,” he said.

“My brother had an illness but he got the all clear maybe three months ago. We are still cautious of it but at the moment everything is going well, thank God.

"But we’ll just keep an eye on it and hopefully things turn out well.”

With his brother now given a clean bill of health, Ugarkovic is enjoying life off the pitch and said having his parents and brother travel from Sydney watch him play is a comfort.

“Off the park, I’m very happy here being back in Australia,” said the 22-year-old.

“It’s only a two-hour drive for my family to come to the games and seeing them in the grand stands every week it’s pretty special. It’s a good sight.”

Ugarkovic has been having a good time on the pitch as one of the Jets' most consistent performers, and has helped the Novacastrians climb into the A-League's top six.

“It’s a great feeling,“ he said. “We are fifth on the table now after two wins and we are just focusing on Wellington and getting the three points on Boxing Day.

"As a team, it’s all come together. Everyone knows their roles in the squad – it took a bit of time, our coach Mark Jones came in late, right near the start of the season but it’s all just clicked now.”

Before their two wins on the trot, Newcastle went seven games without a victory. That period coincided with a surge of Jets players on the sick list, but with key members of the team back to fitness, Ugarkovic said their presence has been a boost.

“We had a terrible run with injuries,” he said. “We got some players back against Perth and Nigel Boogaard played on the weekend.

"You can see they are great leaders and having them in the squad is a big thing. It drives everyone to keep their spots and provides good competition for those spots, and that is what is driving the team as well.”

Ugarkovic added: "We always had high expectations. We always said we wanted to be in the top six which is a good thing for the club.

"It’s a long time coming for the Hunter Region, and for them to see the team do so well. So we are just focused on trying to stay up there."