Sydney AFL superstar Adam Goodes has revealed he felt frustration and naivety after coming to terms with the first significant injury of his career.

Goodes has played two games since missing five matches with a quadriceps injury.

He made a quiet return against Geelong and had no qualms about being subbed off in the final quarter.

Sydney’s all-time appearance leader made a more significant contribution in last week’s win over Greater Western Sydney, though he was still some way from his brilliant best.

“I did all the right things to get myself back,” Goodes said.

“But I was a little bit naive to think I could come back and play to the standard that I thought I’d definitely want to get to.

“It has been a little bit frustrating from that point of view, but I’m just happy to be back playing footy and to play a better role on the weekend was really good.”

The three-time Sydney best-and-fairest winner and dual Brownlow Medallist has welcomed a tough road to what looks like a certain finals appearance.

Second-placed Sydney’s run home includes matches against Collingwood (first), West Coast (third), Hawthorn (sixth) and Geelong (seventh).

“The best thing about the last nine games of the season is that we get to play four of those teams vying for a top-four spot and that’s the challenge for us,” Goodes said.

He cited the improvement of Sydney’s clutch of developing players as the reasons for their lofty ladder position.

“Our older players keep contributing but those guys in the middle tier and those younger players keep stepping up,” Goodes said.

Most pundits feel Sydney have displayed more outside run this season, but Goodes believes quicker and more effective ball movement and improved skill levels are making the Swans look a lot faster.

He wants to spend more time in midfield as his fitness improves, but Goodes feels his presence up forward is helping the Swans.

“The way our forward line is structured at the moment, we can really stretch teams with our height down there, so that’s a real advantage for us,” Goodes said.

He said Sydney’s other attackers needed to offer more support to emerging young key forward Sam Reid, who kicked five goals through the first eight rounds, but has booted two in each of Sydney’s past five matches.

“I know how hard it is to play as a key forward and he has taken the best defender or the second-best defender every week. For a young kid, that can be quite hard,” Goodes said.