MATT Schneck has put the Cheshire Jets’ promotion rivals on notice as he prepares for his return to action on Sunday at Guildford Heat.

The rookie centre, who stunned the BBL Championship with his power and dominance before Christmas, says his enforced break has been good for him, both mentally and physically

Schneck was banned when a training drink he used, which was originally approved in the US and UK, was found to contain a banned short-term stimulant.

He received the shortest ban ever handed out to an athlete for ingesting Methylhexanaemine – three months – and on Sunday when he will be available for selection once more.

“Fitness wise I’ve been working hard and trying to improve my footwork,” he said. “I actually feel fitter than ever, but it will probably take a couple of weeks to get back into it, making my cuts and screens.”

Schneck took an extended Christmas break back home in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, and he said that time spent re-evaluating what had happened to him had helped him move on.

“Mentally it did me a lot of good,” he said. “I was able to think about things and come to terms with my mistake and I am determined to prove to my team, the Jets community, the league, my agent, my coach and my opposition that my success was not down to what was in that supplement but was down to me.”

The team Schneck returns to is not the dominant force it was when he began his ban.

Then the Jets topped the league, but in 2011 they have struggled to recapture that form.

Nevertheless, Schneck does not paint himself as a saviour.

“I’m going to have to adapt to the team,” he said. “They have adjusted to playing without me and I am going to have to fit in to what they are doing now.

“I am not concerned with coaches having plans for me. They scout us anyway.

“My game is based on my rebounds and outworking the opposition and I don’t think they can stop me doing that.

“The team has had a tough patch but there are a lot of games left. I expect us to turn it around and personally I expect to be back to my best as quickly as I can.”