After beginning the season as the youth team captain, Pepper has been thrust into the limelight in the past two months. And with Ben Kantarovski to miss the next four games on Olyroos duty and Kasey Wehrman still on the outer, the pressure on the 19-year-old will only grow.

‘‘Initially when we knew Kanta would be going away we were a bit concerned,’’ assistant coach Craig Deans said.

‘‘But Jacob Pepper has come in during the last month or so, and has done what we did not expect of him so quickly.

‘‘The problem of missing Kanta has been taken care of a bit with Pep.

‘‘He can slot in there, Jobe has come back from injury and can play there as well.

‘‘It is not ideal to lose a player, but it is only one player, and we need to be good enough to deal with that.’’

Wehrman, who has been left out of the squad for the past five matches after comments he made, is still training and eager to return to the playing field.

But that scenario appears unlikely.

‘‘I don’t think the situation with Kasey has changed a great deal,’’ Deans said. ‘‘He wants to play as everyone does.

‘‘But the direction we are going, the young boys who have come in I think are more than capable of continuing.’’

The transfer window closes in a fortnight, but the Herald understands there could be an opportunity for Wehrman at the Gold Coast, after Dutch midfielder Paul Beekmans was released this week on compassionate grounds.

The Jets are coming off a drought-breaking 1-0 win over Brisbane Roar.

Jobe Wheelhouse played in a more forward role but is likely to work in tandem with Pepper against the Sky Blues after Deans indicated yesterday that the Jets would revert to a 4-2-3-1 formation and high-pressing game.

‘‘Jobe worked well in a forward area on Saturday because he gave us the ability to defend from the front,’’ Deans said.