The 29-year-old Wolves midfielder last appeared for the Republic of Ireland on November 14 last year as they lost the first leg of their World Cup play-off 1-0 at Croke Park.
Four days later, he was an unused substitute as Ireland's hopes of making it to South Africa were dashed with a helping hand from Thierry Henry in a controversial 1-1 draw in Paris which sent the French through.
Hunt, who will hope for a seat on the bench tonight, was at the peak of his game at the time, and his misery was compounded in February when he suffered a foot injury which was ultimately to sideline him until last month.
The road back to full fitness has been long and hard, but now he is desperate to make up for lost time.
Hunt said: "I was probably playing the best football of my career at the time, so that was massively disappointing.
"I came back expecting to hit the ground running again, but it has been a little bit more difficult than I thought it was going to be.
"But at the same time, I am mentally strong and we will get going again.
"I have come back and have had three or four games where it has been basically about my fitness, I haven't really contributed apart from maybe when I could have scored a couple of goals.
"But I am here for Ireland now and looking forward to it."
Hunt's return to action has been testing to say the least - he resumed as a substitute in a 2-0 Premier League defeat at Chelsea, made his first start against Manchester United in the Carling Cup and has turned out against United, Arsenal and Bolton in the league since.
He said: "Either way, I have had my pre-season twice - Manchester United, Arsenal, Manchester City - it's been an easy comeback!
"It's been difficult for me, to be honest, but the more games I get, hopefully the better I will get."
The Republic will use Wednesday night's friendly as part of their preparations for the resumption of the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign against Macedonia in March, by which time Hunt will hope to have worked his way back into contention for a start.
He said: "In the last campaign, I started seven out of 10 games in the group, so it was a decent ratio.
"But I am competitive and I am looking to get my place back in the team."
Last month's home defeat by Russia was followed by a hard-earned point in Slovakia, and although there is much work to be done, Hunt remains hopeful of erasing the disappointment of his World Cup near-miss.
He said: "It's been a mixed bag, but we are still well in contention for qualifying and we have some important games coming up and some big games.
"There are never any friendlies and Norway are 12th or 13th in the world, so they are obviously decent and we will need to be at full tilt."
Source: Team Talk
Source: Team Talk