HAWTHORN defender Josh Gibson says spending over two months on the sidelines has made him hungrier for success.

Gibson hasn’t played since Round 8 when he hurt his shoulder in the loss to Sydney before it was later discovered he’d torn his pectoral muscle.

He had to quickly come to terms with the fact he’d be out of the game for a number of weeks as he was swiftly booked in for surgery.

It is the first time since 2010 the premiership defender has missed a large chunk of footy, enjoying a relatively healthy last three-and-a-half seasons.

Gibson admitted the last two months has been frustrating watching his teammates from the sidelines, unable to make an impact as several other teammates also went down with injury.

But it has, in the end had a positive impact on the 30 year old who is more determined than ever to contribute to Hawthorn’s run to the finals.

“It definitely makes you hungry,” Gibson told hawthornfc.com.au

“It’s hard when you get injured during the year – missing a lot of games is definitely tough, it’s hard to sit in the box and just watch.

“Sometimes when you’re injured for just two weeks you can cop it but when you know you’re going to be watching for 8-10 games it’s challenging.”

Now nine weeks post reparative surgery, Gibson is on track to return against the Swans next Saturday night.

The premiership defender has been able to keep his fitness base at a high level through work on the bike and running as early as three days after surgery.

He says his conditioning is already at a level expected of playing at the elite level.

“I’ve been able to keep my conditioning up by doing plenty of running and riding and then once I got the green light to do more weights and upper body stuff, that’s been where the progression has been,” he said.

“That has been what has stopped me from playing a few weeks ago because you need to get your strength back to an acceptable level.

“I’m really keen to get back out there now with my teammates and fellow defenders.

“I’m excited now to get in one more hit out during the bye week and hopefully, if all things go well I’m back for the game against Sydney.”

With seven weeks remaining until the start of this year’s finals series, Gibson hopes to impress in his return and build into some good form to help the Hawks go deep in September.

“The pleasing thing is that despite it being a mid-season injury, I can come back with six games or so to go and hopefully contribute to us playing finals and finish off the year in a really positive manner,” he said.