![Blake Green in action for Olympic on Sunday. He came off with a calf problem. Picture by Marina Neil Blake Green in action for Olympic on Sunday. He came off with a calf problem. Picture by Marina Neil](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/ChN2GeGbsrYvYqhWaZEXS7/334bf910-2dd1-47ea-ac06-8d92d0801ed1.jpg/r0_411_3856_2579_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Newcastle Olympic coach Paul DeVitis hopes to have former A-League player Jacob Pepper back in his squad for Wednesday night's NPL catch-up with Valentine at Croudace Bay Complex.
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Pepper, Olympic's major signing in pre-season, has made just four appearances in the NPL this year after a send-off then calf strains.
DeVitis was confident of having the defender back for the 8pm round eight game, which is likely to get on given the excellent drainage at CB Complex.
"Peps will be in the squad and we'll probably try to bring him off the bench and get him some minutes," DeVitis said.
Kane Treble (hamstring) and Blake Green (calf) came off injured in the 1-1 draw with Cooks Hill on Sunday.
Olympic are seventh on 14 points, two behind Valentine, who lost 4-2 to Maitland on Saturday. Phoenix were down 4-0 before new addition Zac Waddell scored a double.
"There were a couple of nice finishes from Zac, but at the moment we are probably our biggest enemy," player-coach Adam Hughes said.
"Our mistakes are costing us. We are controlling the games the way we want to, but there are some small details we need to get right and we'll be fine."
American Aden Raftery, who was playing in Queensland with Grange Thistle, and the returning Ryan Clarke were other window recruits for Valentine.
Raftery played high on the left against Maitland and Hughes expected him to build a combination with Waddell, who came from Sydney side Northern Tigers.
"[Raftery] did well, for his first game," he said.
"We hadn't got him cleared until the very last minute and he hadn't really done too much with the group. He was just thrown into the team, similar to how Zac was. It will just take them some time to find their feet and get a week or two training under their belt."
JOICE'S STILL GOT IT
Cameron Joice's first goal for Charlestown on Sunday in a 1-0 win over New Lambton at Alder Park was well received by teammates.
Joice, who returned home this year from America, was a key player in attack for Australia's junior sides a decade ago but has since played further back.
"We have a running joke with him that he's the only bloke in our squad to play up front for his country, but he's become allergic to scoring since then," Charlestown coach James Pascoe said.
"Since he went to America, he's only played in midfield or right back, so he's become a ball-keeper and mover of the ball rather than a finisher, but he's still got it."
Joice showed great touch to control a ball into the box from Luke Callen before finishing in the 64th minute. The win lifted third-placed Azzurri to 24 points, nine off leaders Lambton Jaffas.
"We had a couple of big moments in the first five minutes and if we score one of those, it makes for a very different game," Pascoe said.
"With full respect to New Lambton, we had a fairly heavy week and didn't really get out of first gear.
"There's still that difference between us and those top two teams. They can be a bit more ruthless in terms of racking up big scores, and we've got to find that.
"But that's four wins and four clean sheets in a row, so happy days."
COOKS NEED SPARK
Cooks Hill coach Chris Zoricich hopes additions Mitch Dobson and Jay Kitcher can soon lift his side's confidence after a frustrating 1-1 draw with Olympic.
Kitcher came off the bench against Olympic but Dobson was sidelined with a calf injury. The pair joined the club from US college and Weston respectively in last week's window.
Zoricich's team were left on just nine points after the stalemate on Sunday.
"A couple of new signings might stir the pot a bit," Zoricich said.
"Mitch is hopefully not out for too long. He will be good for us because he's a leader on the field and will strengthen us at the back. And Jay will provide us with more quality in the attacking midfield area.
"I felt we deserved potentially to get the three points [on Sunday], especially in the second half where we had the majority of possession."
"They had a couple of counterattacks which were dangerous, but I thought we definitely matched them. With a bit more quality up top, we could have got a win, but I couldn't be happier with the effort."
** The NPL match between Broadmeadow and Maitland at Magic Park on Tuesday night was washed out.