DANIEL Menzel has set himself to be on the track on the first day of pre-season after being told by Geelong that he will remain on the club's list next year.

The 22-year-old, who won't play at all in 2014 due to complications from his fourth knee reconstruction, is out of contract at the end of this season.

"The club has been amazing to me," Menzel told AFL.com.au. "They've already told me they're going to keep me on for next year.

"It's a credit to them, because that instantly takes that out of my head. I don't have to worry about contracts or the future or things like that.

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"For me, it's just worrying about where my knee's at and getting it right to play again.

"Neil Balme, Brian Cook, Steve Hocking and Chris Scott, all those guys have been fantastic in that way."

Menzel was put on ice for this season last month after undergoing surgery on his troublesome left knee.

"They had to clean out a little bit of bone, which had grown from my previous operation," he explained. "That was giving me a little bit of tendinitis.

"So now that we've got that all out of the way, we'll just build up over the next six to eight weeks with strength work in the gym and then running as well.

"For me, for the rest of the year, it's about getting my body right to go for November 1 - the start of pre-season."

Menzel remains adamant that he can fulfil the promise he showed in the 21 AFL matches he played for Geelong before suffering his first serious knee injury in a qualifying final against Hawthorn in 2011.

He has not played a game at the highest level since then.

"Ruling out playing this year, as bad as it was and as hard as it was to take, takes the pressure of me a little bit," Menzel said.

"This way it gives me a whole pre-season, and allows to play in the NAB Cup, hopefully, before I even look at playing in the proper AFL season.

"For me, there's definitely a lot of confidence that once I get back to pre-season and have a full pre-season, I'll be right to go for round one.

"So I'm looking forward to playing a full season next year and then letting my footy do the talking, which will be nice, rather than hearing about my knee or getting asked about my knee.

"It will be nice to get back into it and go from there."

Twitter: @AFL_AdamMcNicol