Graham Coughlan, manager of Newport
Newport, led by Graham Coughlan, has only dropped one of their previous nine league games.
According to manager Graham Coughlan, Newport County is almost certain to play in League Two the following year.
By the end of February, Coughlan maintains, his team’s guarantee of survival would be a “massive achievement”.
Despite Newport’s position among a group of teams just outside the playoff picture, Coughlan has consistently prioritised hitting the customary 50-point safety mark.
“That’s our primary objective,” Coughlan declared.
“That is what we are looking to do and if we can tick that box, we can move on to the next one.”
On Saturday, Newport visits fifth-placed MK Dons, and on Tuesday, they travel to Harrogate, who are in the final position.
“I will deal with Harrogate on the way back on the bus, or on Sunday or Monday,” Coughlan stated.
“I believe that everyone in the football club would give this group of players a hard time if I told them that they could go to MK Dons on Saturday and essentially guarantee their safety, secure their League Two status, and stay in the division before we even finished February.”
“That is a massive achievement and we want to carry on our good form.”
Any team that finishes higher than MK Dons this season will automatically be promoted, according to Coughlan.
With six victories in their previous nine league games, Newport, who are currently in 15th place but are just two points out of the playoff picture, is one of the division’s top teams.
For the first time since 2018, they aim to win three straight away league games when they visit Stadium MK.
Newport is still without Omar Bogle, Declan Drysdale, and Josh Seberry but hopes that midfielder Harry Charsley will recover from a hip injury to play.
After Seb Palmer-Houlden, a striker on loan from Bristol City, inked a new three-year contract, Coughlan praised the player.
Despite missing two months of action due to an injury earlier in the season, 19-year-old Palmer-Houlden has scored seven goals for Newport this season.
“He is a great kid,” Coughlan stated. He is getting a great education early in his career from playing first-team football and being lifted up into the air by centre halves.
“He has come on, he has got better and better you can see that, he has led the queue really well.”
