Newcastle are hopeful they won’t face another stint without NSW State of Origin forward Daniel Saifiti after he suffered a setback on his knee.

Saifiti limped from the field in the opening half of their 26-24 win over Manly, and is expected to go for scans early this week.

The 24-year-old was only on return from four weeks on the sideline with a PCL injury, after starting this season in career-best form.

But Knights officials remain hopeful he could still be able to face North Queensland on Sunday.

“Early signs are it could be a little bit of scar tissue stuff,” Knights coach Adam O’Brien said.

“The medical staff were okay for him after half time having warmed it up to get back him on.

“But I wanted to take the long-game mentality with him and make sure he is okay.”

If Saifiti is out against North Queensland, he would likely be replaced by his brother Jacob who stepped up in his absence for the past month.

Sunday’s win put Newcastle sixth and just one point outside of the top four, with a second chance in the finals now a realistic goal for the Knights.

They also have one of the best runs home, with rounds 17 and 18 against Cronulla and the Sydney Roosters their only matches against top-eight teams.

But they know as well as anyone they cannot let their guard down in the four games against teams realistically out of finals contention.

They have already been beaten by the Cowboys and Canterbury this year, and can’t afford to slip up against North Queensland on Sunday.

“We’re not looking at the top four. We’re just going to enjoy that and get straight into the Cowboys,” O’Brien said.

“There’s some stuff in that win that we need to fix up. We weren’t at our best.”