Match Preview for Cheltenham
Cheltenham Town are the latest team to visit Rodney Parade this Saturday (3:00pm kick off) as Newport County AFC look to continue their fine home form after Tuesday’s thrilling 3-2 victory over high flying Oxford United.
This is the second of 5 consecutive home games after County supporters have waited over a month to see their heroes in action as Cheltenham make the short trip over the border for their first visit to Rodney Parade.
Manager Justin Edinburgh is looking forward to concentrating on matters on the pitch after a series of postponements and was proud of the way the players kept their concentration and maintained their professionalism over the last few months with their display against Oxford.
‘You can’t always affect the result but you want a good performance. Tuesday had both, the lads were magnificent and I am hoping for more of the same on Saturday against Cheltenham Town.
9 of the last 11 games have been away from home, I can’t emphasise enough how unusual this is and it will be interesting to reassess after these 5 home games.
The players’ mental strength has been excellent and the experiences will benefit us in the future. Long term this season will make us stronger. Squad players have become first team players and grown up during the season. I have been delighted with the progress shown.
Hopefully, the crowd will turn up again and be as vocal as they were on Tuesday as it really boosted the players and contributed to the result.’
We’ve just got Aaron O’Connor, Lenny and Jamie unavailable through injury and Harry (Worley) misses the second of his two match ban. Everyone else is available for selection and those three injured are progressing nicely. I’ve got some tough decisions to make for the first time this season as to who not to put in the squad but we need everyone ready with this run of games.’
Cheltenham Town have also experienced matches called off in recent weeks and manager Mark Yates can empathise with his opposite number.
'You just have to deal with postponements - it is not an issue. The pitch was unplayable last weekend and Terry Roberts (head groundsman) did all he could. We have had a good week on the training ground and we've got some work into them to make sure we are right for Saturday. We have a tough couple of games coming up.
I did go down to watch Newport play Oxford. Newport were excellent and they peppered, badgered and harassed Oxford all night. Oxford scored but Newport kept peppering them and eventually got what they deserved I felt. They were good value for the win and they were a real handful. They are a big side that play 3-5-2 and we have got a game on our hands. We will be mindful that they are a decent side. We drew with them at home and we will have to do certain things against them but also play our game too.
Newport have got a really good home record so we have to be mindful of that. They will be confident they can win games and propel themselves up around the play-offs so we've got to be professional and stick together.
Their pitch was fine and they have done some good work on it. There was one area of the pitch that was particularly sandy and it looked like a beach but, apart from that, you won't have any complaints about the pitch.'
Tickets are available to purchase prior to the game and supporters can save £2 by purchasing in advance. Either call into Rodney Parade, call 01633 670690 to book via the ticket office or purchase on-line and collect at the ground.