DANIEL Wells doesn't care whether he plays in the AFL or VFL this weekend, just so long as he plays.
Wells is set to return to the field for the first time since round five provided he gets through North Melbourne's final two training sessions this week, on Wednesday and Friday.
The two-time North best-and-fairest winner told reporters on Wednesday that having recovered from the Lisfranc injury to his right foot (when one or more of the metatarsal bones are displaced from the tarsus) he could not wait to play again.
"I'll push to play anything to be honest," Wells said when asked if he would push to come straight back into North's senior team.
"It's been so long. Just to actually train with the boys over the last couple of weeks has been good.
"Now I'm trying to step it up to play a game, whether it's VFL (or) AFL I'll leave that up to the coaches.
"They'll make the right decision."
With four rounds to go in the home and away season and North well placed in sixth spot to play finals, Wells' return – even at reduced fitness – is a real boost for North.
The Roos' midfield looked one-paced at times last Saturday night when Geelong speedsters Jordan Murdoch, Steven Motlop and Allen Christensen were streaming through the middle of Etihad Stadium.
A fit Wells would go a long way to remedying that.
Wells is not sure how much impact he can have on his return.
But he expects he will struggle to run out games initially and will need more regular rotations through the interchange bench.
"(I'm) not going to be gliding down the wing in the last quarter, I'll probably be struggling a fair bit, so that's where I'll just look for the boys to help me out a bit," Wells said.
Wells injured his foot when teammate Drew Petrie accidentally trod on it at training ahead of North's round five clash with Collingwood.
The midfielder played in that game, but pulled up sore afterwards and has not played since.
"At the start he was quite upset about it, big 'Peach' (Petrie), but it definitely wasn't his fault," Wells said.
"It was all my fault actually, I got in his way a bit."
Wells' foot injury was originally thought to involve no more than bone bruising, but was later diagnosed as a Lisfranc injury.
Wells said his time on the sidelines had been frustrating, particularly during that initial period when the club and he were struggling to understand precisely what was wrong with his foot.
"But I'm still blessed that I've still got an opportunity to play this year," Wells said.
Wells says his foot feels "pretty good" now, with his biggest concern avoiding the type of injuries that can crop up through lack of match conditioning.
Meanwhile, Wells, a member of North's leadership group, says teammate Lindsay Thomas has been "pretty good" after coach Brad Scott criticised him for staging for a free kick against Geelong last Saturday night.
Thomas was cleared by the Match Review Panel for diving forward after Geelong's James Kelly pushed him in the back during the third quarter of Saturday night's game.
But Scott said on Saturday night he would not tolerate Thomas staging for free kicks in the future.
"'Linds' has copped a bit of heat over his career really for a few things," Wells said.
"But I just love the way that Lindsay plays, the way he goes about it. He brings a lot of energy and enthusiasm.
"He's much loved at our club, so he'll be fine."
