Brownlow Medallist Adam Cooney is poised to make a surprise comeback for the Western Bulldogs before the end of the AFL season.

Cooney has struggled all year with a persistent knee injury but says he needs to play to give himself self-confidence.

Bulldogs’ coach Brendan McCartney has indicated Cooney potentially could play against Sydney at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

Assistant coach Steven King said the club reconsidered a decision to rest him for the three remaining games and could be swayed by Cooney’s persistence.

“I think Adam himself just wanted to get to the stage where he knew, going into next year, he’s set himself up to continue a solid leg-weight program and rehab program during the break,” King said on Tuesday.

“I think it’s just for his own peace of mind, just to get back to that level. Whether he plays or not, just to know ‘Yep, I’m back in full training, I’m ready to go and this is where I’ve got to go to move forward’.”

King said Cooney had trained a little last week and could join in more drills this week to “see where he’s at.

“It’d be great to have him out there to play a couple of games before the season ends.

“He’s just been going about his rehab as normal. It’d certainly give the playing group a huge boost to have ‘Coons’ out there.”

King said Cooney had been restricted to doing “a little bit of cross-training” and the challenge would be to get him match-ready.

“His knee’s feeling better. It’s just a matter of the soft-tissue stuff, and he’s such an explosive athlete, to make sure we’re not just throwing him out there and he’s got enough (fitness) under his belt to get through a game of footy,” he said.