While she's one of the best players Australia has produced, Graf said the biggest impact of her return has been the ability to play teammates in their preferred positions.

The sixth-placed Capitals (8-9) are just one win outside the top four before matches against title contenders Bendigo (11-5) on Friday and Melbourne (9-8) on Saturday.

While they're approaching both matches as must wins, the Capitals must at least beat Melbourne to claim the split and keep their season alive.

Jackson's inclusion the past four matches has alleviated pressure on workhorse skipper Abby Bishop in the front court, and allowed swingman Carly Wilson to return to the perimeter.

The 33-year-old was left out of Canberra's trip to Townsville on January 2, the club opting to keep her in cotton wool for a clash with Dandenong two weeks later as she recovered from knee surgery.

But Graf said the time was right to take her out of cotton wool as the Capitals fight for their finals lives.

"That's certainly our plan she'll be playing in two games, and we'll use her accordingly," Graf said.

"It's not a month ago; she's further along and understands her knee. This is a season defining week for us I think.

"She thought her performance [19 points, 14 rebounds in win against Sydney] wasn't that good last week, but there's not many players with an injured body who can score and rebound like she did.

"She can clean up the defensive glass; she's an intimidating defensive presence and alleviates pressure on Abby."

The Capitals will field a full strength line-up for the first time this season with Hanna Zavecz expected to return from a month out with an ankle injury.

"Lauren provides the appropriate balance. We didn't have it early but we have it now," Graf said.

"The benefit we've seen is now Carly goes to three [small forward], she's stepping up and making three-point shots in her true position.

"She's a great defender and can lock up a Belinda Snell [Bendigo] or Tess Madgen [Melbourne]. We're playing people in their appropriate positions. We're starting to see what this team can be."

Bishop said she was fully recovered after battling through illness in the scrappy 69-66 home win over Sydney.

"It was tough to even get out of bed but I knew it was an important game and I did all I could," Bishop said.

"It was finals-type basketball and it's given us a bit of momentum. There's some fire in our bellies knowing we need to win to keep our season alive."

WNBL

Friday: Bendigo Spirit v Canberra Capitals at Bendigo Stadium, 7.30pm

Saturday: Melbourne Boomers v Canberra Capitals at State Basketball Centre, 3pm (live on ABC1)