Six of the best at Rodney Parade will push Newport County closer to the League Two play-offs dream.

Manager Michael Flynn and his team have nine fixtures to play this season and half a dozen of those are at home.

The Exiles held title-chasing Luton Town to a 1-1 draw and now turn to a home clash with Crewe Alexandra next Saturday.

Newport have also been rocked by bad news over captain Joss Labadie, who suffered a training ground cruciate knee injury which ruled him out of the match against Luton.

Labadie could be out for up to a year: “We’re waiting on scan results for Joss, but it doesn’t look good, if I’m honest,” said Flynn.

“He’s got a suspected ACL injury and I’ll know more on Monday.

“It’s anything between six and 12 months so it’s not good news.

“It was a training ground incident. A player landed on top of him. These things happen.”

“It’s a big blow. He’s had a great season and is a fantastic lad. He’s respected by all the players and by myself because he comes in and gives his all.”

County went ahead inside two minutes against Luton after an Aaron Collins effort was beaten way by goalkeeper Marek Stech and Josh Sheehan tucked away the rebound to score for a second successive match.

Joe Day, in goal for Newport, kept his team side ahead for 23 minutes, but could do nothing to stop Dan Potts’ header following a corner.

Luton move to within three points of leaders Accrington Stanley, while Newport are seven points outside the play offs – and  those six home fixtures could prove crucial in their quest for a top seven finish.

Mickey Demetriou headed over from County’s best chance of the second half, while Danny Hylton passed up Luton’s best opportunity late-on.

The draw keeps County in the top half of the table, lying 11th, and they still have a lot of work ahead if they are to close a gap to the play-offs.

Manager Flynn elected to make two changes to the team who secured a 2-0 victory at Yeovil Town. Paul Hayes and captain Joss Labadie both missed out because of injuries, while Mark O’Brien recovered from a hamstring strain to return.

Welshman Aaron Collins, on loan from Wolves, also returned.

County stuck with a 3-5-2 system and O’Brien slotted into the back three with Ben Tozer moving from centre-half into midfield.

Both teams were disappointed to drop points and Luton’s Welsh manager, Rhondda-born Nathan Jones, said: “It’s not a bad point, but after you shoot yourself in the foot after two minutes you are left chasing the game again.

“We just can’t seem to keep a clean sheet in terms of just giving ourselves an opportunity. We seem to be conceding first.

“We hit the bar, had a number of chances, played some really good stuff in really difficult conditions.

“It was blowing a gale, the pitch was dry and bobbly and it wasn’t conducive to free-flowing, but I thought we were brave when we got it down.”

County: Day, Butler, Demetriou, White, O’Brien, Willmott, Dolan, Sheehan (Nouble 70), Tozer, Amond (McCoulsky 86), Collins. Subs not used: Bittner, Pipe, Jackson, Bennett, Reid

Luton Town: Stech, Potts, Sheehan, Cuthbert (capt), Stacey, Berry, Rea, Lee (Cornick 68), Gambin (McCormack 88), Collins, Hylton (Jervis 84). Subs not used: Shea, Justin, Mullins, Lee

Referee: Craig Hicks

Attendance: 3,512 (589 away)

Newport’s remaining fixtures:

March

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

			|  HOME					|  AWAY
		P	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Accrington	37	14	2	3	37	18	9	3	6	27	22	+24	74
2	Luton	38	13	2	4	52	21	7	9	3	27	19	+39	71
3	Notts Co	38	12	5	2	37	17	6	7	6	23	22	+21	66
4	Wycombe	37	10	4	5	40	30	9	5	4	30	22	+18	66
5	Mansfield	37	10	8	1	37	19	6	7	5	19	19	+18	63
6	Coventry	37	11	3	4	25	13	7	4	8	18	18	+12	61
7	Lincoln	37	10	6	3	32	19	6	6	6	21	21	+13	60
8	Exeter	36	11	3	4	24	14	7	3	8	22	26	+6	60
9	Swindon	37	8	2	8	23	32	11	1	7	35	23	+3	60
10	Carlisle	38	7	7	5	28	19	8	4	7	27	29	+7	56
11	Newport Co	37	6	9	2	24	17	7	5	8	23	30	0	53
12	Crawley	37	8	3	7	22	17	7	5	7	22	29	-2	53
13	Colchester	37	8	6	5	27	18	5	6	7	19	25	+3	51
14	Cambridge U	38	10	5	4	24	16	3	6	10	14	34	-12	50
15	Cheltenham	38	7	6	6	27	23	4	6	9	26	31	-1	45
16	Stevenage	37	7	8	3	34	21	4	3	12	16	34	-5	44
17	Yeovil	37	8	4	7	27	19	3	5	10	20	38	-10	42
18	Morecambe	36	6	4	7	19	23	3	8	8	18	24	-10	39
19	Port Vale	37	5	6	7	21	23	4	5	10	20	30	-12	38
20	Crewe	37	7	3	9	24	28	4	1	13	20	33	-17	37
21	Forest Green	37	8	2	9	28	30	2	5	11	16	34	-20	37
22	Grimsby	38	4	7	8	15	23	5	3	11	17	34	-25	37
23	Chesterfield	36	6	3	10	22	29	2	4	11	15	36	-28	31
24	Barnet	38	4	6	9	16	24	3	3	13	18	32	-22	30