The Exiles host Blackburn Rovers in the Emirates FA Cup...
Looking at the visitors
Blackburn Rovers currently sit in 18th place in the Sky Bet Championship having lost at home to Brighton on Saturday, and they are winless in five having not taken three points since they beat Rotherham on the 11th December. They have a wide range of players who are capable of finding the net but the player who stands out most of all with nine goals this season is Jordan Rhodes but Blackburn haven’t scored a goal themselves since the 5th December.
Form Guide
Newport County – D D D DWLDL LW 11 points
Blackburn Rovers – DWDW WDL L L L 12 points
Upcoming milestones
Danny Holmes – 1 appearance for 175 professional appearances
Matt Taylor – 2 goals for 25 professional goals
Medy Elito – 2 goals for 25 professional goals
Joe Day – 5 appearances for 125 professional appearances
Aaron Collins – 1 appearance for 25 professional appearances
Previous milestones
Yan Klukowski v York was his 225th professional appearance
Scott Boden v York was his 250th professional appearance
Blackburn’s record against County
No previous meetings
Last time out
It was a win for Newport on Saturday when an Aaron Collins goal inside the first ten minutes proved to be the only goal of the game as Warren Feeney’s first game in charge ended in success. It was a crucial win against the side at the bottom of the table and now means that the Exiles find themselves six points clear of the relegation zone with a game in hand over the teams on either side of the relegation line.
The man in charge
The referee for this fixtures is Charles Breakspear, his assistants are Daniel Cook and Mark Russell and the fourth official is John Farries. Breakspear has taken charge of Newport before, away to Plymouth in March in a match that finished goalless and at home to Dagenham and Redbridge in March 2014 where a Robbie Willmott goal for the Exiles was not enough to bring back a point for Newport, after two first half goals from Medy Elito put the visitors ahead before David Pipe was sent off with a few minutes to go. He was also the man in the middle for four games of County’s promotion season back to the football league. He took charge of the 0-0 home draw with Stockport, the 2-0 home victory over Mansfield Town, thanks to goals from Andy Sandell and Christian Jolley, the 1-1 away draw with Ebbsfleet with Lee Minshull grabbing a goal just before half time, and finally the 1-0 victory at home to Braintree with Conor Washington grabbing the only goal of the game. He has never taken charge of Blackburn Rovers.