Rowberry to resist cup changes in bid to maintain momentum
NEWPORT County head into FA Cup action this weekend with manager James Rowberry unlikely to change his team too much after a more-than-promising start to life with the Exiles.
Rowberry’s first two games in charge have seen County record back-to-back wins over Bristol Rovers and Stevenage.
If you add in caretaker boss Wayne Hatswell’s time at the helm following the departure of Mike Flynn, County are on a six-game unbeaten run in League Two.
Now the focus turns to knockout football on Saturday.
Morecambe are County’s opposition in the FA Cup first round with Rowberry understandably keen to keep his new side’s momentum going.
That is likely to mean a strong County side will start at Mazuma Stadium this weekend.
“I want to continue what we are doing and the FA Cup is important for the club. We are going there to win the game, of course,” said Rowberry.
“Everybody needs to know that they will have an opportunity at some point because football’s a game where you can get injuries.
“We play Morecambe, then Swindon, then an away game at Hartlepool on a Friday. We need to make sure everybody is as fit as possible to be able to be available.”
Rowberry will be able to involve more of his squad in Lancashire, with captain Matty Dolan likely to return in some form after missing out last weekend with a thigh injury.
Teams are allowed to name seven substitutes for fixtures in the Football League but the FA Cup they can name nine.
Rowberry would also be able to bring five players off the bench with three opportunities to stop the game to make a change (halftime is excluded).
The Football League allowed five subs last season because of the pandemic but has reverted to three in 2021/22.
Rivals Morecambe will be looking to bounce back after losing 2-0 to Cambridge on Tuesday with the side receiving a rocket from manager Stephen Robinson.
He said: “It was an embarrassing display, our worst performance of the season. We deserved nothing and that is what we got.
“It was men against boys and after they took the lead we looked like we were beaten already and looked like a team very short of confidence.
“They were men and we were boys and we didn’t lay a glove on them.”