Newcastle Olympic coach Neil Owens plans to ease versatile Alesha Clifford into games after missing a whole round of NPLW Northern NSW.
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The former national league player, who can be deployed anywhere on the field, was back in training with Olympic this week after a four-week holiday.
The experienced 31-year-old has not played since Olympic's 3-3 draw with Broadmeadow in round four.
The two sides are set to do battle again in round 11 action at Darling Street Oval on Sunday.
"I'll probably just slowly give her some minutes over the next few weeks to try to get her back up," Owens said.
"It's no big rush. Hopefully she'll be right fully in three or four weeks. She's keen to get back into it and is a very good footballer so that will be a huge bonus for us."
Olympic responded to their first loss of the season - a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Maitland - by beating Mid Coast 6-0 last weekend.
They won't have recently retired Newcastle Jets goalkeeper Claire Coelho available for their top-of-the-table clash with Magic. Coelho is away and unavailable for Olympic's next two games.
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