Landmark for Joe as County look for reaction
NEWPORT COUNTY goalkeeper Joe Day is set to make his 200th appearance for the Exiles at Tranmere this afternoon as they look to bounce back from their 6-0 home hammering by Yeovil.
It was County’s first league defeat since the opening day after what has been an excellent start to the season in League Two.
Mike Flynn’s side had been sitting joint top of the table with Lincoln before last Saturday’s drubbing and the Newport boss will be demanding a reaction from his men at Prenton Park.
The match will also see Day – if selected – bring up his appearance milestone.
He is in his fifth season at Rodney Parade having initially joined on loan from Peterborough United in August 2014 before joining permanently for a club record fee later the same season.
Day said: “When you come to a club you just want to play as many games as possible. It’s something I will be proud of to get to 200 games.
“There have been a lot of ups and downs in the time I’ve been here.
“There are some great moments, the Great Escape and the FA Cup run last year are the ones that stick in my mind.
“The bad ones you just try and forget, a game such as Saturday just gone you try not to keep them in the memory.”
Personal milestones aside, Day says the side are determined to put right the wrongs of last weekend.
He said: “Sometimes you just can’t put your finger on why these things happen in football, they just do.
“I know it’s a bit of a cliché but it’s just how you react to it. You make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“We’ve got to make sure we go and get a result and if we pick up good results in the next couple of games hopefully that performance is forgotten about.
“There are no excuses for Saturday and we don’t want to repeat it but if you put things into context we are third in the league, we’ve had a great start.
“We’ve got to take confidence from that and make sure we bounce back.”
Today’s opponents Tranmere are eighth in the table with 13 points from eight matches with County third on 16 and three behind Lincoln.
Manager Micky Mellon says his team are learning all the time about the division following their promotion from the Vanarama Conference last season.
|”It is still very early days and we are not getting carried away and we are just pleased that we are getting some good work done,” he said.
“We know we can improve and we know we could have more points than we have now. We are learning all the time.
“It will be a tough game, they are all tough because we are new to this level and we are still gelling as a team.
“We know we are in for a tough game against Newport, a team that has collected more points than us, so we will respect them like we do with everyone.
“We will be properly prepared and give it our best shot to get a valuable three points.”