Meet the New Boss

Sky Bet League Two’s bottom club sacked former Pilgrim Warren Feeney earlier this month, and have replaced him with Graham Westley. The meeting with Argyle, at Rodney Parade, will be Westley’s first at Newport’s home; his only game in charge so far was a 1-0 defeat at Yeovil Town. 

Argyle recently played County in the Checkatrade Trophy, winning comprehensively. Although 1-0 down at half-time, Argyle turned dominance into goals in the second period, and ran out comfortable 4-1 winners. 

“New managers come in with different ideas and a different style of play,” said Derek. “That will be no different on Saturday. We have to be aware of that and we will be. We’ve seen last Saturday against Yeovil and we will have to be on our game to win.

“I spoke to [Yeovil manager] Darren [Way] mid-week. That was just a conversation we were having - it wasn’t specifically to speak about the game - but we did speak about it. He gave me an idea of how Newport played, but [Argyle Chief Scout] Greg Strong was at the game we know roughly how they are going to play.”

“We will line up against a different team from what we played in the Checkatrade Trophy.”

Newport have had two games called off this season, as their Rodney Parade ground continues to struggle with the demands of a football team and two rugby sides sharing the facilities. 

Argyle’s three previous visits to the ground have yielded two wins and a defeat, including a 2-1 win last season, in tricky conditions. 

“I realise there was a rugby game there Wednesday,” said Derek. “Hopefully it will be in a good condition. It can’t be any worse than it was the last time we played there around December time. This time of the year all pitches are hopefully in a good condition and I would see that no different at Newport.

 

“I think that it is tough when there are lots of competitions at one venue and when the weather has been wet. I know they had the problems with the drainage and hopefully they have sorted this out.

“It can be difficult to play the game you want to play and Newport have maybe found over the years that they have had to change their style. It’s not great from a player’s point of view because sometimes it can be very bobbly and worn come December/ January time.”