Ahead of Newport County’s game against Cambridge United on Saturday afternoon (21 Feb), player Ben Lloyd spoke to the media to preview the match.
After scoring his first goal in the EFL in Newport’s victory at Salford City this week, Lloyd was upbeat about his side’s prospects going forward.
“It’s massive, all three goals, to the season. We really feel like we can kick on now, and we have to build from it – it can’t just be a win on Tuesday”, he said.
“All the lads know what we need to do, we need to bring the same intensity and workrate for each other.
“Performances can differ, we can play well and not so well, but if we keep bringing the workrate we did on Tuesday night, I’m more than confident we can get out of this.
Lloyd, a former Wales under-21 international, was delighted to pick up a hugely important goal in Newport’s first ever win at the Peninsula Stadium.
“It was a special feeling, I think my reaction after summed it up, just running into the crowd.
“For the third goal, they didn’t give me the assist – I was a bit gutted about that! But it doesn’t matter how we score, as long as the ball ends up in the back of the net.
“To be honest, I think Jordan’s [Wright] booted it up the pitch, Sven [Sprangler] has flicked it on, and to be fair to Croley [James Crole], he’s done well with the ball.
“Their defender made a bit of a mistake and I just latched on to it. I remember thinking I had taken a bit of a heavy touch, the goalkeeper came out, and I chose to go around him.
“I think we’ve shown we can compete against the likes of Salford who are near the top, but we have recently not been getting the results.”
Lloyd is on-loan from Swansea City, and is starting to make his name further west in Wales.
“I keep in contact with Swansea a lot, and I still watch all their games when I can. They’re doing really well and playing a good brand of football, and they’re happy with how things are going.
Lloyd has been in and out of the starting side this season, but has taken his uptick in form in his stride.
“I think that’s part of football – you're going to have ups and downs, and recently it has been a tough few weeks for me.
“But I’ve had really good conversations with the gaffer, and he’s said to me that my chance will come, and he stuck to his word on Tuesday.
“Hopefully, I have repaid him.”
He also had plenty of good things to say about Christian Fuchs, with the Austrian picking up his first away win in the league.
“He’s been really good. He gives me a bit of freedom and that’s what I need as a player, so I can express myself, and breeds so much confidence. Tuesday night proved that.
Similarly, he talked up the impact the Newport fans have had on the recent performances.
“To be fair to them, we haven’t had the best of seasons, and especially at Rodney Parade, we haven’t won as many as we’d like.
“But I really feel like they’ve stuck behind us, the away supporters on Tuesday were magnificent.
“Keep getting behind us, because the results will come.
“We heard them all game at Salford. When you have fans like that getting behind you, it’s a great feeling as a player.
He was under no illusions of the difficulty Saturday’s visitors would pose.
“They’ll be big, physical, typical League Two team. I think they are on a really good run at the moment.
“It will be a really tough game, but if we just keep playing the way we did on Tuesday and bring it on Saturday, we all believe we can get three points.
“I would personally say it was my best performance of the season. I think playing in that number 10 role as attacking midfielder is my favourite position, and the gaffer gave me a bit of a free role – I could drift, run in behind.
“I think for me, as a player, having that from your manager is what I want. He knows I’m going to work hard off the ball anyway.
“I like to get forward and attack, and would brand myself as a goalscoring midfielder, which I haven’t been able to do as much this year.
“Hopefully, I can show to the Newport fans that I can score goals, and maybe score a few more towards the end of the season.
