Newport County look to get back to winning ways against promotion rivals Salford City

Two of the current favourites for promotion from League Two meet at Rodney Parade on Saturday, with Michael Flynn’s Newport County searching for a first league win in over a month.

Flynn’s side – who will move back to the top of the league with a victory – have seen their promotion push falter over the winter, with a four-game winless run followed by home games against Exeter and Southend either side of New Year being postponed due to adverse weather conditions.

A heroic effort from the Exiles’ ground staff meant last weekend’s FA Cup third round tie against Brighton was able to go ahead. Newport were knocked out by the Premier League side on penalties, but the performance indicated they are by no means in free-fall despite their indifferent form.

Manager Flynn has seen his side significantly weakened since the start of the January transfer window, as loanees Brandon Cooper and Scott Twine returned to their parent clubs after starring in the South Wales club’s excellent start to the season.

Forwards Owen Windsor and Jake Scrimshaw have arrived on loan from West Brom and Bournemouth respectively, and Jack Evans has joined on a free transfer from Swansea. But Newport are still looking for further additions to maintain their place in the automatic promotion spots.

Saturday’s visitors Salford City are no strangers to the transfer market themselves, picking up 14 new players in the summer as the club’s ambitious owners targeted a fifth promotion in just their eighth season in charge.

Despite an unbeaten start to the season, Graham Alexander was removed as manager in October, with Ammies co-owner Gary Neville citing disappointment at the club’s 11th-place league finish in the previous campaign and an underwhelming playing style as the main reasons for the dismissal.

Alexander was replaced by Swindon boss Richie Wellens, who had guided the Robins to the League Two title in 2019/20 playing an easy-on-the-eye brand of football that came to be known as ‘Wellens-ball’.

Salford have been fairly inconsistent since the former Manchester United academy player took charge, winning six, losing four and drawing twice in his 12 league games so far, but a last-minute victory at Scunthorpe on Tuesday moved them into the play-off places and just two points behind Newport. They can go top themselves with a win on Saturday.

The two sides have already met twice this season, with the Exiles swotting Salford aside 3-0 in the FA Cup second round thanks to a second-half collapse from Wellens’ side following a Brandon Thomas-Asante red card at Rodney Parade.

The Ammies almost got their revenge in the league just before Christmas, but they were denied an impressive win at the Peninsula Stadium by an injury-time penalty from Newport captain Josh Sheehan in a 1-1 draw.

Team News

Robbie Wilmott was forced off in the first half against Brighton with a knock but is likely to be available for Saturday as Michael Flynn is set to have a fully-fit squad to choose from.

Jack Evans, Jake Scrimshaw and Owen Windsor could all potentially make their debuts for the Exiles if selected.

Salford midfielders Darron Gibson and Richie Towell will both miss the game in South Wales due to injuries, whilst Di’Shon Bernard and Bruno Andrade face late fitness tests to determine their availability.

What both sides had to say

“It’s always interesting coming up against one of Richie’s teams, so I’m looking forward to it. They had a good result the other night (against Scunthorpe), scored late on but three points is all that matters.

“I’m sure they’ll be trying to do the same this weekend, but hopefully we come out on top.”

– Newport manager Michael Flynn

“Newport’s had such a really, really good start to the season and credit to them, we played earlier on in the season at our place and unfortunately we drew 1-1, they scored a last minute penalty, but I think it’s going to add a bit more passion to the match knowing that if we win it we can go top and all what comes with it, but the objective has got to be compete, do the basic fundamentals.”

– Salford forward Ian Henderson

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