EXILES BRACED FOR DOM OFFERS
NEWPORT County are braced for deadlineday offers for League Two top scorer Dom Telford – but the striker insists he’s loving life at Rodney Parade.
Two more goals for the frontman in the first 12 minutes on Saturday were enough to beat Barrow, who pulled one back through Mickey Demetriou’s second-half own goal.
And a fourth successive win kept the Exiles third in the table ahead of next weekend’s trip to runaway leaders Forest Green Rovers.
But before then manager James Rowberry will be holding his breath until the transfer window shuts at 11pm tonight as he aims to keep hold of Telford, who is out of contract in the summer.
The striker’s quickfire brace meant he became the first County player to score 20 goals in a Football League season since John Aldridge in the 1983-84 campaign.
And while Rowberry says there has been no interest and the man himself does not appear to be thinking about a move, that extraordinary form will have alerted plenty of potential suitors.
“I’m going to PSG!” joked Telford after his latest match-winning display.
“No, I’m happy here. Football is a rollercoaster, I have had many downs and this is one of my ups.”
Telford, who arrived in Newport 12 months ago having been a fringe player at Plymouth Argyle, added: “I came here to play football and get minutes. I am happy here, scoring goals in a great team, that’s all I can say.
“At the moment I am enjoying helping the team. I have always believed in my ability.”
Telford, who helped Bury win promotion to League One in 2019, says he doesn’t want to let talks about his contract situation distract him from County’s bid to reach the third tier for the first time since 1987.
“Me and the gaffer said to let the club and my agent deal with all that because I have had it in the past, when I’ve not been in as comfortable a situation, and it can cloud you on a Saturday if you are overthinking things,” he said.
“It’s better if I can concentrate on my football and keep coming in with a smile on my face.
“Do well and you get rewarded, but that’s down to my agent. I trust him a lot and trust the club.”
Telford received congratulations from Aldridge on Twitter on Saturday night and he’s determined to add to his 21 goals in all competitions.
“Any striker is greedy for more,” he said.
“A lot of people set a benchmark of 20 goals but there is a lot more football to play.
“We’ve got a long way to go yet.”