Exiles are going right way despite loss, says new boss
SELF-CONFESSED “bad loser” Graham Coughlan is certain that Newport County are heading in the right direction, despite suffering a first league defeat since he took charge.
Aaron Lewis’ close-range strike put the Exiles a goal up against the run of play in the final minute of the first half, but Stockport fought back to take all three points at Rodney Parade.
Second-half strikes from Chris Hussey and Paddy Madden secured a sixth win in seven games for the visitors, while Coughlan’s men are 19th in the League Two table – just four points above the relegation zone.
But the Exiles boss believes his side are capable of a similar run to the Hatters if they can cut out mistakes at the back.
“It was one or two errors and those errors have been here long before I walked through the door,” said the Irishman.
“It’s just about eradicating those daft, silly errors that are costing us and moving forward from there.
“That comes with confidence and self-belief.
“We’ll get to work on it, and we’ll put it right because I believe in this group of lads, and I believe in what we’re working towards.
“Credit to Stockport, they’ve clicked into gear over the last five or six weeks and that’s something I can see us doing.”
“I’m definitely seeing progress. I think everyone has seen progress.
“I think the lads are in a good place, they’ve worked hard and there’s plenty to come from them.”
Stockport’s equaliser arrived on 54 minutes when goalkeeper Joe Day allowed a Chris Hussey freekick, which Hatters boss Dave Challinor admitted was almost certainly a cross, to sail over him and into the far corner of his net.
And Paddy Madden, the League Two player of the month for October, grabbed the winner as he got away from Declan Drysdale to convert Macauley SouthamHales’ cross.
Madden was denied a third by a
fine fingertip save by Day late on.
Coughlan took issue with the award of the free-kick for the equaliser but admitted that his goalkeeper was at fault.
“Omar Bogle ran 40 yards and made an unbelievable tackle, he clearly got the ball, but a free-kick was given, and it ended up in the back of our net,” he said.
“But there is no excuse, you can’t be beaten like that from a free-kick and Joe is little bit gutted.
“But he will live and learn.” After feeling the effects of a gruelling midweek defeat at Leicester City in the Carabao Cup, Coughlan’s men now have a free week to prepare for the visit of fellow strugglers Gillingham at the weekend.
“I’m a bad loser, particularly after a game that I don’t think we should have lost,” he said. “It was a tough afternoon for us, tough to take.
“I don’t want to be a gallant loser, I want to win.
“That’s the way we’re brought up in Ireland.
“We’ll regroup, we’ll reset, and we’ll go again.”