Welsh managers Michael Flynn and Nathan Jones go head-to-head at Rodney Parade in Newport on Saturday (3pm).

Newport-born Flynn, aged 37, is manager of his home city club County, while Jones, a 44-year-old from the Rhondda, is in charge at Luton Town.

Neither man can afford to see his team lose a clash which is crucial to hopes of promotion.

County are 11th and aiming to launch a charge to finish in the play-offs spots, while the Hatters have been toppled from top spot after four League Two matches without a win.

Accrington Stanley are the new leaders, while Luton are second.

Jones, a former Cardiff City junior player who started his senior career with Merthyr Town, is intent on ensuring his team stay on track for automatic promotion.

Their form has dipped, but Jones says: “Things have conspired to go against us a little bit, but you get that through a season.

“We haven’t taken the points we would have liked to, so we’re having a little bit of a slow patch, which all teams go through.

“We haven’t been through them yet, because we were averaging two points a game up until the recent patch we’ve had.

“So we’re in credit. It’s just we’ve got to make sure we come through this period now.

“I don’t think the players are feeling the pressure.”

Luton were six points ahead of second-placed Accrington and 10 points clear of third before their run of four games without a win.

Now they are behind Accrington and have a seven points gap to fourth.

Former Luton manager David Pleat first took Jones to Kenilworth Road in 1995, signing him from Merthyr for £10,000, but Pleat moved to Sheffield Wednesday and the Welsh defender moved on without making a first team appearance.

Jones went on to play for Brighton, Yeovil, Southend plus Numancia and Badajoz in Spain. He made more than 500 first team appearances in the UK, helping teams win promotion three times.

Jones was first team coach at Brighton before taking over at Luton, while he holds a Uefa Pro Licence and spent time coaching England’s under-21 team, working alongside Gareth Southgate.

Luton drew 2-2 at Coventry City in midweek, while Newport manager Flynn was ‘thrilled’ with their win at Yeovil Town last weekend.

Josh Sheehan and Paul Hayes, with his fourth goal in two fixtures, scored the goals in a 2-0 League Two victory.

This was a first win since January for the Exiles, but they are only five points outside the play-offs and seven of their last 10 fixtures are at Rodney Parade.

Other League Two matches on Saturday (All 3pm kick-offs unless stated): Lincoln City vs Grimsby Town (1pm)

Notts County vs Mansfield Town (1pm), Accrington Stanley v Forest Green Rovers, Barnet v Wycombe Wanderers, Cambridge United v Swindon Town, Carlisle United v Crawley Town, Cheltenham Town v Chesterfield, Colchester United v Yeovil Town, Crewe Alexandra v Coventry City, Morecambe v Exeter City, Port Vale v Stevenage.

Newport’s remaining fixtures:

March

Saturday 17: Newport County v Luton Town (3pm)

Saturday 24: Newport County v Crewe (3pm)

Friday 30: Newport County v Coventry City (3pm)

April

Monday 2: Chesterfield v Newport County (3pm)

Saturday 7: Newport County v Stevenage (3pm)

Saturday 14: Newport County v Yeovil Town (3pm)

Saturday 21: Barnet v Newport County (3pm)

Tuesday 24: Newport County v Accrington Stanley (7.45pm)

Saturday 28: Newport County v Cambridge United (3pm)

May

Saturday 5: Carlisle United v Newport County (3pm)

League Two table – all teams play 46 matches

			|  HOME					|  AWAY
		P	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Accrington	36	13	2	3	34	17	9	3	6	27	22	+22	71
2	Luton	37	13	2	4	52	21	7	8	3	26	18	+39	70
3	Notts Co	37	12	4	2	36	16	6	7	6	23	22	+21	65
4	Wycombe	36	10	4	5	40	30	8	5	4	28	22	+16	63
5	Mansfield	36	10	8	1	37	19	6	6	5	18	18	+18	62
6	Exeter	35	11	3	4	24	14	7	3	7	21	24	+7	60
7	Coventry	36	11	3	4	25	13	6	4	8	16	17	+11	58
8	Lincoln	36	9	6	3	29	18	6	6	6	21	21	+11	57
9	Swindon	36	8	2	8	23	32	10	1	7	32	22	+1	57
10	Carlisle	37	7	6	5	26	17	8	4	7	27	29	+7	55
11	Newport Co	36	6	8	2	23	16	7	5	8	23	30	0	52
12	Crawley	36	8	3	7	22	17	7	4	7	20	27	-2	52
13	Colchester	36	8	6	4	27	17	5	6	7	19	25	+4	51
14	Cambridge U	37	10	5	3	23	13	3	6	10	14	34	-10	50
15	Cheltenham	37	7	5	6	26	22	4	6	9	26	31	-1	44
16	Stevenage	36	7	8	3	34	21	4	2	12	14	32	-5	43
17	Yeovil	36	8	4	7	27	19	2	5	10	19	38	-11	39
18	Port Vale	36	5	5	7	19	21	4	5	10	20	30	-12	37
19	Crewe	36	7	3	8	23	26	4	1	13	20	33	-16	37
20	Forest Green	36	8	2	9	28	30	2	5	10	15	31	-18	37
21	Grimsby	37	4	7	8	15	23	5	3	10	16	31	-23	37
22	Morecambe	35	5	4	7	17	22	3	8	8	18	24	-11	36
23	Barnet	37	4	6	8	16	22	3	3	13	18	32	-20	30
24	Chesterfield	35	6	3	10	22	29	2	3	11	14	35	-28	30