County creep into hostile territory this Sunday on a mission to exterminate super-confident Boreham Wood, National Conference high-flyers determined to quash any Emirates FA Cup dream Christian Fuchs' might harbour writes Anthony Rees.
The script likens the 007 movies written less than a mile from the Woods' Mangata Developments Stadium over at Elstree. Newport, against the odds, are primed to fire the golden bullets and jet into a third round pot that will contain the Premiership top dogs, including cup holders Crystal Palace.
Leading book makers rubbish County's chances of survival in leafy Hertfordshire. The national media will gather expecting no surprise, aligning with the betting, who rate the Wood as 3/4 favourites to win.
County, with a licence to kill, are boosted by a clutch of players on the verge of return, but, with the stealth of Bond, are revealing nothing within a top secret dossier designed to leave Boreham chief Luke Garrard shaken and decidedly stirred.
Newport of League Two are five rungs above their hosts on the EFL ladder, and boss Fuchs, an FA Cup winner with Leicester City in 2021, declared, "We are going to Boreham Wood for the win, with no excuses.
"We are a good club and am planning the victory, not just turning up to see how things happen! While we respect our opponents, we'll show who is in the higher league."
County produced a much improved show against Barrow at Rodney Parade last Saturday - but were held 2-2, after leading twice - the legacy of a full week's training under the fresh management outlook of Fuchs and influential number two Mark Smith.
Boreham Wood fifth in their National Conference have a potent mix of experience in defence and free-scoring flair. The back four marshalled by ex-Bromley destroyer Callum Reynolds, has over 1,750 professional games between them, their attacking blueprint spearheaded by 13-goal predator Matt Rush, once of Southend United.
The Wood have won five out of their last six games in all competitions, but Austrian Fuchs an integral ingredient in a Leicester cocktail that lifted the Premier League crown nine years ago, boomed, "The FA Cup is a very special tournament. To win it is a unique sensation.
"I am not sure how far we can go in the FA Cup this season, but we have prepared for progress and go into every game expecting to win.
"We saw a marked improvement in our display against Barrow last weekend, it was a stark contrast to what we saw at the Oldham stadium seven days earlier.
"We built out from the back in fine fashion during our last match and were the top side on stats for this function in our division. We must stick to the strategy and mustn't revert to the old ways of a long ball."
Fuchs, a silky left back who led Austria in the 2016 Euro Championships in France, does admire the Boreham Wood playing style saying, "I do like the way they play and their rotation of front players in attack.
"We know they are decent, but we have prepared right for this."
Newport did reach a fifth stage best in 1949. Yet, the Exiles are one of the renowned lower section cup giant killers of recent times - having frightened Tottenham, Manchester United and Man City - dumping out Leeds, Middlesbrough and Leicester City at Rodney Parade, a tie Fuchs still remembers.
He laughed, "My name was spelt wrongly on the team-sheet [ a k replaced the h]. It was not a match that has fond memories for me."
County skipper Lee Jenkins, fluent in Welsh and English, believes his men can rightfully dream of a plum third-round date saying," The FA Cup is rightfully very special. The win over Gillingham in the last round was my first experience of the competition, and I am hungry for more success."
The Exiles could give quick-silver on-loan Leicester City raider Nathan Opoku a start, and recall New Zealand international keeper Nik Tzanev, but manager Fuchs has kept everything under wraps coming into a clash which could yield County £145,000 for progression to Monday night's third round draw.
