Quality squad good enough to go up table, says Hatswell

WAYNE Hatswell believes the Newport County team he will hand over to a new manager in the not-too-distant future is capable of stringing together a run of up to 10 games with defeat.

At the moment, County’s stand-in boss is hoping to make it three games in a row without a loss in League Two when he continues at the helm for the trip to Exeter City today.

Having started with a 3-0 ‘tribute’ win to the departed Michael Flynn against bottom-ofthe-table Scunthorpe United, his team then delivered a point in a goalless draw at Rodney Parade against Bradford City.

Now he wants the team to press on again and deliver the win that would see them overtake Exeter and move nearer to the play-off places.

“With the quality we’ve got in the dressing room we’re capable of putting together an unbeaten run of seven, eight, nine or even 10 matches. It’s a tough challenge in a tough league, but it’s something that I think we’re capable of doing,” said Hatswell.

“I hope that whoever comes in can pick up a team that has won a couple of games, has picked up points and is moving in the right direction. We want to get into the top five if we can in the next few weeks.

“If we can get back-to-back wins it will put a bit of confidence into the group. Anything can happen in football and you never know what’s coming around the corner.

“We’re fully prepared for a tough weekend. We’ve given them the rest that I think they needed for this week and hopefully that’s going to bode us well.

“The team have performed, but we need to be at our best at Exeter. We’ve got a run of three games in seven days coming up and that includes two tough away games either side of a home clash with Carlisle.

“Matty Taylor has got a big, experienced squad at Exeter and they’ve had a lot more money this year. They had a couple of windfalls from certain players leaving and Matty’s been able to bolster his squad.”

Club skipper Matty Dolan has moved back into his former midfield role and could remain there for the trip to the south west. Finn Azaz is likely to get a start after continuing to impress after joining on loan from Premier League Aston Villa.

County haven’t won at Exeter since April 8, 2017, and have to go back six matches for their last win over the Grecians. They haven’t won on the road this season since the August 21 clash at Tranmere.