Newport County manager Hayden Mullins says his side have used a full week of training to address the fine margins that have cost them points on the road ahead of Saturday’s visit from unbeaten Fleetwood Town.
County have picked up four points from their opening two home fixtures this season but are still searching for their first away point, having suffered late defeats against both Salford City and Northampton Town.
Despite those results, Mullins believes the performances have shown plenty of positives, with County proving difficult to break down for long periods.
“I think obviously disappointment from Saturday, obviously one we needed to clear the air with,” Mullins said. “Honestly, a real positive performance from the lads. There was nothing in the game really for large periods.
“But then a lot of travelling, three of our last four games have been away, so it's been tough for the boys. It was nice to have a full week to have a look at things, address things and assess where the boys are at.”
Mullins believes County have been a tough side to face away from home but says concentration for the full 90 minutes remains an area to improve.
“I think one thing you've got to be when you go away from home is tough to beat and hard to break down,” he said. “The problem is we're doing it for large periods, but we're switching off for small moments, which is something we've got to address.
“We are tough to come up against. I don't think we've given too many easy performances away. We are a tough side to break down at the moment, which is good. But, like I say, it's just concentrating for the full 90 minutes.
“The boys are working incredibly hard. The group is a really good group, a tough group, an honest group. They back each other up. They're together. It's just we need to start keeping clean sheets and adding more goals.”
County were minutes away from taking something from both Salford and Northampton, with Mullins admitting the late goals have been particularly frustrating.
“We could be sat here in a completely different sort of position,” he said. “We were only a couple of minutes away from that, 87 on the weekend and 90 against Salford.
“We're not a million miles away. We're frustrated in terms of what we've let slip, but we've got a chance to come back home on Saturday and really put in a positive performance.”
Mullins also provided positive updates on Matty Jacob and Christian Doidge ahead of the weekend.
Jacob was withdrawn against Northampton after feeling the effects of playing his first game in a while following an interrupted pre-season, but has since completed a full week of training.
“Yeah, he's fine,” Mullins confirmed. “He's the one who's just coming back from a bit of an injury. He felt his legs a little bit in the game, which is a tough game.
“He put in a really good shift for us, so he was just coming off the back of that. He's had an interrupted pre-season with the injury, so he's just returning back to full fitness, which we're getting him through.
“He trained fully this week.”
Doidge, meanwhile, has also returned to full training after picking up a knock against Tranmere Rovers.
“Doidgey's fit,” Mullins said. “He tried to train and tried to make the Salford game, was named on the bench and then broke down in the warm-up.
“We've been nursing him a little bit with that, but he's back training. He trained fully this week, so we'll see how he is tomorrow and how he reacts from this week's training.”
Shaquille Gwengwe has made an impressive start to life in League Two, scoring four goals in August and earning a nomination for the division's Player of the Month award.
Mullins believes the striker's performances are a direct result of his hard work and willingness to improve.
“It's rightly deserved,” he said. “With four goals in the month, four goals in five games or whatever it is, it's fully deserved.
“He works incredibly hard, Shaq. He's out there and he always wants to work on his game, finishing and hold-up bits and areas of his game which he feels might help him to develop.
“He's really open, he wants to learn and I think, like I've said previously, what you've seen in his product is a by-product of his hard work.
“He puts a real good shift in for the team. First and foremost, remember where that's come from and apply that, and then we'll try and chip away at the other bits.”
With Doidge potentially returning, Mullins also highlighted the different qualities the experienced forward can offer alongside Gwengwe.
“He always gives us a real good out,” Mullins said. “He's an experienced campaigner. He's a different player to Shaq.
“He knows his way around the back line and he's a bit more wary and streetwise in terms of buying fouls and nicking headers and getting us off the pitch.
“I think Shaq's got a little bit to learn in that. To be fair, he knows that. There's bits of his game that he needs to work on. He's still young, so he's got loads of time to get there.
“In terms of having Doidge in the team, he's always given us a platform to build from. We can go into him and get bodies in and around him.”
New additions have also given Mullins greater flexibility in the attacking areas, with County adding further width to the squad.
“I think it was one area we were light on,” he said. “Just to have Yahya out there and obviously our Shaq to do it, we were pretty light there, so it was definitely an area we wanted to add.
“Tan gives us the flexibility, a different type of winger to Michael. Michael's more direct, more one-v-one, likes to get around his man and cross.
“Tan's different. We can go both ways, he can come inside, can go on the outside, likes to link up and receive as well from deep. Add in Kieron Evans, he can float around in those areas as well.
“It gives us a lot of flexibility and more options. I think we were just crying out for a little bit more width.”
County face a Fleetwood Town side that remain unbeaten, with Mullins expecting another difficult test at Rodney Parade.
“A tough team, tough team in good form, good confidence,” he said. “I think the manager's set them up really well.
“We know, again, like you say, it'll be a tough afternoon. One which we've got to focus on us and make sure that we're in the right place to take the game to Fleetwood.
“We don't expect anything less. They've got some good strikers in their armoury and they're a tough, tough team.”
Mullins also believes set pieces could prove important, with both sides possessing a threat in those situations.
“They're good at set pieces as well,” he said. “It should be one of those games where it's not going to be easy.
“What I've tried to do is concentrate on us, try to make sure our start is good. Before the Northampton game, we'd taken the lead in every game we'd played apart from that game.
“Our starts in games are right and where they should be, and we need to make sure that we're ready to go again Saturday.”
With the squad now looking stronger, Mullins admits he faces difficult decisions when selecting his starting XI and matchday squad.
“It's always a tough area, especially when you've got to pick 11 plus a bench and leave players out,” he said.
“It's always the worst part of the job, really, leaving players out who want to be out there. More decisions, more choice, more competition, which is good for everyone.”
Newport County vs Fleetwood Town takes place on Saturday, September 12, with kick-off at 3pm at Rodney Parade.
