Clare Wheeler knows the clock is ticking as Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson finetunes his squad for next year's World Cup on home soil.
Missing Australia's past two friendlies - both wins against South Africa then Denmark last month - due to a knee injury was "not ideal" for the former Adamstown Rosebud junior.
But the Newcastle 24-year-old has invited the pressure of earning more match minutes as the Matildas eye world No.2 Sweden at Melbourne's AAMI Park on Saturday (2.45pm) then Thailand on the Central Coast on Tuesday (7.30pm).
"I feel like everyone knows that it's competitive for spots and it's all about performance," Wheeler told the Newcastle Herald from Melbourne this week.
"You want to get every single opportunity you can because we don't have many left.
"It's crazy to think that after this window we've probably only got two more camps before we hit that World Cup block, so it's not that much time at all."
The defensive midfielder played several national league seasons in Newcastle before linking with Sydney FC in a move that led to a contract at Danish big guns Fortuna Hjorring then a Matildas call-up.
Wheeler made her senior international debut for Australia in September last year and has since earned 11 caps for her country.
In August, she signed a short-term loan deal with Everton in England's Women's Super League.
"Pressure is part of football and if it's not for country it's for club," Wheeler said.
"That's a big reason why I jumped at the opportunity to move to Everton, to be under that pressure and to be in an environment where I'm playing against the best in the world.
"I know that I need to be exposed to that to make sure that when I have these opportunities in camp if they come that I take them."
Gustavsson's 24-player squad for the two-match series on home soil also includes Newcastle's long-serving Matildas midfielder Emily van Egmond, who missed Australia's past two matches as well due to a quadriceps injury.
"It's to the point where it's getting the most competitive environment that I've ever been in," Wheeler said.
"You not only have the younger or newer players coming in ... but then you have players with so much experience like KK [Elise Kellond-Knight] coming back in and Chloe [Logarzo] returning from injury.
"As a squad you've only got two more camps left, so the pressure is on to perform."
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