W-League: Newcastle welcome time out for Wheeler

Wheeler limped off in the 33^rd minute of Newcastle's 2-0 win over Adelaide on Saturday night at McDonald Jones Stadium after trying to play on briefly with a sprain.

Without their senior midfielder, Newcastle scored twice in the second half to snare their first home win and second overall of the season.

It lifted the Jets off bottom spot to seventh on seven points with two games to play and renewed hopes of a further push up the ladder.

However, they will not have a chance to build on the win until February 23 against Melbourne Victory at No.2 Sportsground because of an international break this weekend then the bye.

"We're in a position where we've just got a couple of weeks of training, keeping the girls focused, and they are keen to finish strong," caretaker coach Ash Wilson said.

"It's not too hard to motivate them."

A positive of the break is the potential recovery of Wheeler and forward Nicki Flannery from ankle injuries. Flannery came off early in the 2-0 loss to Melbourne City on January 18.

Wilson believed Wheeler may be back for the Victory clash.

"She sprained her ankle and tried to play on but she was having a lot of difficulty in sprinting and pushing off," she said.

"She decided it wasn't going to be beneficial for her to be on the field and after the assessment of it, it was probably the best call.

"It looks like probably two to three weeks at the moment, so hopefully back for the Victory.

"It gives Clare and Nicki in particular the opportunity to get some time under their belt and give themselves the best opportunity to get back."

She said Flannery will return to non-contact training this week in the hope of building to a possible return against fourth-placed Victory.

Wilson was happy with the performance of her whole squad against Adelaide, but made special mention of the inexperienced brigade.

Lauren Allan had her second start, Paige Kingston-Hogg made her debut in the first XI and Renee Pountney replaced Wheeler and scored Newcastle's second goal in the 78^th minute.

"Paige did really well when she came on last week [against Perth] and Loz [Allan] had a full game and scored the goal," Wilson said.

"They've been training well so it's important to be able to reward that. Paige coming on and being a starting player this week, I think she stepped up.

"Renee again did well last week with the pass that she made - the goal assist - and she's trained well and she's quite a good technical player.

"For her to come on in the manner she did with Clare going out early and to work her way into the game, some finish.

"I'm really pleased with how those girls are going and obviously it keeps driving that competitive aspect at training."

"It's always hard as a coach to pick the 15 that are going to come away because when people are training well it comes down to who's done all right in games as well, who's doing well at training and sometimes what do I need as a coach ... I'm happy with how all of the young ones are coming along."