Newcastle's Emily van Egmond remains a key part of coach Tony Gustavsson's plans for world domination despite not featuring in the Matildas' starting side since last September.
Australia's long-serving midfielder, who debuted for her country in 2010, is eyeing a fourth FIFA Women's World Cup appearance - and a first on home soil - in five months' time.
But the 29-year-old did not start in wins against Czechia, Spain or Jamaica in the past week as the Matildas secured the Cup of Nations, which was used as a dress rehearsal for the World Cup group stage.
Van Egmond, who has 127 caps for her country, was deployed off the bench around the 70-minute mark in the Gosford, Sydney and Newcastle matches.
The San Diego Wave midfielder has not started in the Matildas' past seven outings, all of which they have won. Her last first XI inclusion was against Canada in Sydney on September 8.
Van Egmond missed two friendlies in October through injury and has been fighting to get back her starting position since.
Gustavsson said competition for spots was only getting fiercer as the World Cup loomed large.
"She missed a camp with injury last year and then Kyra [Cooney-Cross] and Mini [Katrina Gorry] got the opportunity to play centrally," Gustavsson said after the Matildas beat Jamaica 3-0 at McDonald Jones Stadium to secure the Cup of Nations on Wednesday night.
"They grabbed that opportunity ... and ever since we've had a centre-midfield pairing that have shown they have chemistry and play really, really well together.
"It's been tough then to come back into the team ... but EvE has been phenomenal this camp in terms of training quality, because it's a tough situation. It's a player that used to start a lot of games and now she hasn't started for a while.
"She's been the best teammate. She's been very professional in training, and she's shown when she's come into the games that she's ready to play the games off the bench as well.
"We just need every single player to keep pushing for spots and challenging me for playing time because that's what we need come the World Cup."
Van Egmond plays in the National Women's Soccer League in the United States, which is in pre-season, and said leading into the Cup of Nations that she was feeling refreshed after a break during the off-season.
She also acknowledged competition for World Cup spots was getting tougher.
"We have quite a deep roster now, with so many people debuting," van Egmond said.
"It's created a competitive environment. As a footballer, that's what you want. Going into the World Cup I have no doubt that it's going to put us in the best position possible.
"It's the competitiveness in training - day in, day out - that pushes the team on to make us the best that we can be."
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