Every point is a vital one for the County – Dunne

NEWPORT County assistant manager Joe Dunne insists every point counts in the battle against relegation after the Exiles came from a goal down to earn a 1-1 draw at home to AFC Wimbledon on Tuesday.

Harry Charsley’s second-half strike cancelled out the visitors’ fifth-minute opener and ensured that County edged a little closer to safety, despite a below-par performance in the first hour of the contest. A triple substitution midway through the second half saw Will Evans, Calum Kavanagh and Aaron Wildig replace Omar Bogle, Charlie McNeill and Scot Bennett.

And the changes paid off almost immediately as the hosts drew level in the 69th minute.

The Dons failed to clear an Aaron Lewis corner and the ball fell to Charsley, who slammed it home from 15 yards. County are now 11 points clear of the bottom two, although they have played two games more than Crawley Town in 23rd.

“We are in a situation where we have 10 games to go and nothing is done yet, nothing is decided,” said Dunne. “As a management team we are still focused on getting a job done. Players need to understand that. We want to win and don’t like drawing, but sometimes points are valuable, and we will take all we can get.

“Based on our first-half performance, I believe it’s a point gained.

“There were a few tired bodies, and the game just passed us by in the first half.”

County have drawn 11 of 22 games under Coughlan and Dunne, with six wins and five defeats.

“It’s the business end of the season and every point counts,” added Graham Coughlan’s righthand man.

“It was important we didn’t lose, although we are disappointed, we didn’t win.

“We are moving away from the position we were in, and it is character that has got us the points on the board. I am glad that we have got that character because if we didn’t then we’d be sitting with a lot of losses.”

County travel to mid-table Tranmere Rovers this Saturday but that could be their last action for a fortnight.

The Exiles are scheduled to host Harrogate Town on Saturday, March 25, but that match could be postponed.

County would be without defender Matty Baker, who is on loan from Stoke City, because of Wales Under-21s’ friendly against Scotland in Spain.

Midfielder Nathan Moriah-Welsh and goalkeeper Nick Townsend will also be on international duty in the CONCACAF Nations League for Guyana and Antigua & Barbuda respectively.

“We’ve had interest in one or two individuals regarding international call-ups,” said Dunne.

“It’s something we will speak about and in the next 24 to 48 hours I am sure we will know more.”