Rowberry in at the deep end of management

THE lessons of football management are coming thick and fast for new Newport County boss James Rowberry.

Having had to cope with his first League Two defeat against Swindon Town at Rodney Parade last weekend, he is now having to face up to three games in seven days. On top of that, tonight’s clash with Crawley, and Friday night’s game against Colchester, are both on the road.

That means his team will be travelling 750 miles there and back for the two fixtures as they fight to get back into the play-off places after their 2-1 home defeat to Swindon.

“We need to react positively and keep moving forward. Sometimes you learn more about your team in defeat and I now know where we need to be better in certain moments.”

Jack Payne’s late goal spoiled what would otherwise have gone down as another good performance by County and now Rowberry is likely to make chances over the next two games this week before his players can enjoy a break due to their early FA Cup exit.

“I had in my mind about freshening up anyway because if we are going to have three games in a week then I’ve got to use the squad that I have got available,” he said.

Scot Bennett was back in the fold last weekend after nine weeks on the sidelines, although not used as a substitute, while Robbie Willmott is also available again after serving his period of isolation after contracting Covid.

Rowberry will be hoping their reappearance this week will get his side back on the winning track after suffering their first league defeat since September against Swindon. Crawley are 10 places behind eighth placed County in the table and Colchester are two places further behind. That means County should be targeting two victories if they are to stay in the promotion race.

County drew 1-1 at Crawley last season, with a Mickey Demetriou own goal gifting the home side a point, and the The Reds ended their six-game losing streak at Barrow on Saturday thanks to James Tilley’s goal in a 1-0 triumph.