After drawing a Welsh December cracker of a tie against Wrexham in the second round of the FA Cup, Newport County will have more cup progression in mind tonight (Tuesday) when they welcome Plymouth Argyle to Rodney Parade for their final pool game in the Checkatrade Trophy.
The mathematics are pretty simple for Michael Flynn’s side – win and they are through on goal difference ahead of Swindon Town.
They were beaten 1-0 at Swindon in their opening game, but then thumped pool-topping Chelsea U21 3-0.
Last weekend’s 2-0 FA Cup win against seventh grade Metropolitan Police at Imber Court was a means to an end, adding £36,000 to the club’s coffers, but the performance didn’t meet with the manager’s approval. There is a £10,000 jackpot on offer for County if they can win again tonight.
But a week after he threatened to get rid of any players guilty of any further repeats of the “criminal defending” in the 3-2 League Two defeat at Carlisle, Flynn was once again critical of the chances the Met Police were able to create.
Allowing a team of Argyle’s standing similar opportunities could be fatal to their Trophy hopes, although as it is a dead rubber for the visitors they might not be a motivated as the home team.
“I’ll pick a team that I think can win the football match, but I need to take a look at a few players. I don’t think we were quite good enough last weekend, but that’s fine – we’ll learn from that and go again,” said Flynn.
“I’d never question the character of this group of players, but it’s about doing things right in and out of possession. We conceded a lot of chances that were of our own making against the Met Police and it wasn’t a performance I was very happy with.”
It is a big week for County with a second home game to following this weekend against League Two promotion rivals Colchester United. Flynn’s men are currently in sixth, two points behind third placed Colchester.
Flynn hopes to have Welsh international midfielder Andrew Crofts back fit for Saturday and Joss Labadie is also getting closer to returning to action after major knee surgery.
Full-backs Tyler Forbes and Cameron Pring are also hoping to be available for the weekend.