Dom’s form bound to attract transfer talk, admit County
NEWPORT County assistant manager Wayne Hatswell admits that clubs are bound to be interested in striker Dom Telford, but he’s confident that League Two’s top scorer will remain at Rodney Parade this month.
Telford has 19 goals in 20 appearances this season after his double either side of half-time helped County to hammer Harrogate Town 4-0 in Saturday’s behind-closed-doors clash.
Mickey Demetriou had opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the eighth minute and Courtney Baker-Richardson added the fourth 10 minutes after the interval.
But there was no doubt that Telford was the star of the show again for the Exiles and his extraordinary form will undoubtedly attract suitors before the transfer window closes on January 31.
“There’s always going to be people looking at him,” said Hatswell, who was in charge at the weekend following manager James Rowberry’s positive Covid test.
“That’s part of the game but we’ve got him here.
“There’s going to be interest but the club is in a good place, Dom’s enjoying his football – you can see that – and he wants to be part of something here.
“If there was to be a big move for him, that’s something the club would have to deal with as and when it happens.
“But we haven’t got a crystal ball. He’s here with us and he’s doing really well.
“I wanted to leave him on so he could get his hat-trick but he was a little bit fatigued so we had to look after him.
“If there had been fans here he would have got a standing ovation on the way off.
“He’s a top finisher and he’s a real threat whenever he shifts on to his left foot.”
Hatswell also praised goalkeeper Nick Townsend, who retained his place ahead of former Cardiff City man Joe Day, for a crucial save from George Thomson with the score at 1-0.
“I’m pleased for Nick to get a clean sheet,” said Rowberry’s deputy.
“He’s in competition with Joe and we’ve got two outstanding keepers, in my opinion.
“The clean sheet was long overdue and that will do him the world of good.”
County’s first win since December 11, following defeats to Rochdale and Salford City and a 3-3 draw at Walsall, lifted them to sixth in the table, and Hatswell is confident they can push for promotion with supporters allowed to return from next week.
“We’ve got a lot of games coming up and it’s the business end of the season,” he said.
“We’ve put a couple of defeats behind us and we’ve got the fans back for our next home game.
“Hopefully it will set us up for a good couple of months.”