David Pipe started for the ninth successive league game in the 2-1 home defeat to Colchester United.
That means the defender has played in 12 of the last 13 league encounters, only sitting out the defeat to Exeter City in early September.
Pipe took the captain’s armband in the 15th minute of the game on Tuesday night, after Joss Labadie was forced to withdraw with a hamstring injury.
Post-match, Pipe spoke exclusively to iFollow Exiles about the first home league defeat of the season, how he expects the side to bounce-back on Saturday and how he feels the team has been performing so far this campaign.
On the Colchester game…
“It was pretty frustrating.
“There were a couple of chances that we didn’t take, we were a little bit open second-half and it was a bit different to what we have been used to playing at home and seeing out games.
“But look, let’s not get carried away – we’ve lost a game of football. Luckily, all of the teams around us dropped points and we have stayed in the same position so that’s a positive.
“We’ll take the negatives out of that game, assess them as we always do and try and do something about them come Saturday.
“We’ll be ready on Saturday, we can take that frustration out, turn it around and get everyone smiling again.”
On his performance individually…
“I thought I played well.
“I thought my performance was good first-half and also until I came off where the gaffer has taken me off to go for it a little bit more and that’s fair enough.
“I don’t try and assess my own game too much as I let other people do that but if you’re asking me specifically then of course, I was happy with my performance.”
On losing the unbeaten home record at Rodney Parade…
“I don’t think any loss is a good thing but records are records and I’m not really bothered with that if I’m being honest with you.
“Of course, we’re proud to have not lost at home for a certain amount of time but it now makes us want to go on that run again.
“It’s not about dwelling on what we have done in the past, it’s all about Saturday now and we’ll be ready to start a new run.”
On the goals scored by the strikers…
“They probably care but I couldn’t give a monkey’s who scores.
“As long as we score and we do well then to be honest with you Joe Day could score as far as I’m concerned.
“Obviously, they’ll have their own personal goals and targets and they take pride in that. Hopefully they’ll keep competing against each-other because the more they compete against each other then the better for the team in my opinion.”
On Saturday’s game against Mansfield Town…
“They’ll be tough because they have a lot of experience. They’ve got a lot of experience in the backroom staff, got some experienced players but so have we.
“It doesn’t mean just because we lost tonight that we’ll be negative or whatever, we’ll go into that game very positive without disrespecting whoever comes here.
“But I honestly think that if we’re on our game tempo wise then we can put a few more chances away. If we’re solid at the back as-well then why not three points?”
On the progression of County this season…
“Of course I’m happy.
“If you told me at the start of the season that this would be the scenario then I’d have bitten your hand off.
“We can talk about how many points we had last year compared to this year and what not but look we’re realistic.
“We’ve got enough experience in there to not get carried away either way but we’re very happy with the position we’re in at the moment.
“Obviously if we’d have won tonight then we may have gone up two places but we’re in the mix and we’re there to stay.”
On drawing Walsall in the FA Cup…
“I’m happy to be home.
“It’s on my birthday weekend as-well, I’ve been lucky enough to get into the last eight with Bristol Rovers and it is magical.
“You can say all the cliched things in the world about it but obviously we’ll have a big crowd here.
“It’ll be a slightly different scenario regarding the atmosphere and that because it’ll be a very good atmosphere and hopefully we can go on a run in the cup as-well.
“Having said that, for me personally, every game is the same regardless of what cup it is in.
“Whether it’s the league, FA Cup, any other sort of cup, attitude wise you go into it with the same mentality and that is to win.
“The FA Cup has a million stories surrounding it and it has got that special feeling especially if you can progress in it but we’ll approach that game as we do every game and that’s to win.”