COUNTY HIT BY INJURY TO DEFENDER
NEWPORT County’s battle for promotion has taken another dent after defender Priestley Farquharson revealed he will miss the rest of the season after damaging an ankle ligament.
The 24-year-old former England beach soccer international has been a revelation since joining from nonleague Connah’s Quay Nomads in January and turned himself into a vital part of County’s defensive line.
He missed the 1-1 draw at Mansfield over the weekend having been forced off in the second half of what proved to be an unlucky 13th appearance of the season for him in the victory over Bolton Wanderers earlier in the week after rolling his ankle.
Scans have revealed the true extent of the damage and Farquharson told fans via his Twitter account it “looks like the season’s over for me.
“Found out I tore a ligament in my ankle.
“I’m so gutted but all I can do is come back stronger and support the boys off the pitch.”
County boss Michael Flynn was in no mood to apportion blame after his side let another lead slip in the final 15 minutes at Mansfield.
Now County have seven games left to stay in the promotion hunt, starting with matches against promotion rivals Carlisle United and Cambridge City this week.
Instead of viewing the 1-1 draw as two points dropped, the Newport boss preferred to see it as a point gained in the final run in to promotion.
Had they won, County would have moved to within a point of the automatic promotion places, but they are still very much in the hunt.
“We took the lead and the goal that we gave away was poor – we didn’t stop the cross, it was a poor clearance and nobody tried to block the shot,” said a frustrated Flynn.
“I am gutted for the players because they gave everything. I’m greedy and want to win but we got a point and I’m not going to turn that down.
“We have come on some way if we are disappointed to draw at Mansfield because their squad is littered with a lot of good League Two players.
“But it was a battling performance and an away point, so now we move on to Tuesday.”
Skipper Joss Labadie broke the deadlock in the 75th minute with a solo effort after picking up a loose ball 30 yards out, driving into the box and then shooting underneath the home goalkeeper with his left foot.
Then a defensive lapse let them down again as Liam Shephard was robbed in his own area and Tyrese Sinclair shot high into the roof of the County net.