Boss Flynn hopeful Tozer will be ready
NEWPORT County boss Michael Flynn is confident he’ll have Ben Tozer back in contention for this weekend’s trip to Cambridge United.
The midfielder missed Saturday’s pulsating 3-3 draw with Carlisle United at Rodney Parade due to illness.
Flynn revealed that the 27-year-old was keen to face the Cumbrians but was ruled out by the club doctor prior to the game.
“Ben was missing through illness,” said the County boss.
“He turned up to the game but he spoke to the doctor and he had muscle aches. He wasn’t looking great.
“He wanted to play and that’s the environment we’ve got. They all want to play, they don’t want to lose their shirt because they don’t know when they’ll get back in.
“I had to make the decision because I didn’t think it was fair on Ben or the rest of the team to play him but I’m sure he’ll be fighting fit for next week.”
If Tozer does not recover in time for the match at the Abbey Stadium, Scot Bennett could be drafted into the centre of midfield.
The centre-back has filled in as a holding midfielder on several occasions already this season, and he could be an option if Tozer is unavailable again.
Bennett has recovered from the hip injury that ruled him out of the Exiles’ FA Cup victory over Cambridge on December 3 and was an unused substitute against Carlisle on Saturday.
“I nearly brought him on,” said Flynn. “I’ve got to be honest, if we were away I might have started him but we were at home and I wanted to win the game.
“Even at the end I could have gone to take a point but I wanted to win.”
Flynn made two substitutions in the second half against Carlisle, sending on Lamar Reynolds and Padraig Amond in place of David Pipe and Shawn McCoulsky. Reynolds replaced Pipe on 54 minutes with County trailing 2-1 and the hosts were level two minutes later thanks to the first of two Matty Dolan free-kicks.
But Flynn was less than impressed with the impact that the winger made.
“He’s got a lot to learn,” was all the manager said when asked about the 22-year-old’s performance.