Colchester United will welcome Newport County to the JobServe Community Stadium on Good Friday afternoon as they aim to extend their unbeaten run to three games following a well-deserved 1-1 draw against league leaders Mansfield Town last Saturday.
Danny Cowley will also be hoping to secure his first victory on home soil and add three more points to his tally.
But standing in the way of that will be a Newport County side, which currently sits eleventh in League Two standings, only four points away from a play-off guaranteeing place.
The Opposition
The Exiles are battling for a spot in the top seven, but their recent form, albeit against teams higher in the division, leaves a lot to be desired. Out of their last five matches, they won just two succumbing to three defeats against Stockport, Mansfield and most recently Barrow.
The 1-0 loss against the Bluebirds last Saturday left Newport four points off seventh-placed Crawley, who also have a game in hand, and manager Graham Coughlan delivered a blunt assessment after a performance that left him feeling “awful”.
He said: “We got what we deserved out of the game and the most disappointing part was the lack of hunger and desire to go and win a game.
“When you want to get into the top ten you have got to show a lot more hunger and desire, you need to win battles and your individual duels.
"We didn’t win enough first contacts and second balls, too many players had an off day.
“The conditions were awful for both teams – it was a really difficult day, I get that – but that shouldn’t have anything to do with desire, work rate, attitude and commitment. This group has that in abundance, but we didn’t display that.”
Coughlan will be relaying on a couple of attacking players to cause trouble for the U’s. One of them is Will Evans [pictured below] who sits third in the Top Scorers table for League Two having so far managed twenty goals and three assists in thirty-nine matches.
Bryn Morris could also be a handful for Colchester’s defence with the midfielder managing nine goal contributions (six goals and three assists) in thirty-nine League Two appearances this season.
Last Time We Met
Despite going ahead thanks to Samson Tovide’s strike after thirty-four minutes, the U’s succumbed to a 2-1 defeat at Rodney Parade on 3rd October 2023.
Ticket Info
Tickets are on sale from Col U Tickets - click HERE to get yours. Tickets are currently on sale at the ADVANCE rate.
Tickets will also be available to purchase from the self-service ticketing machines in the Club Shop on the day, although you will not be able to select your seat on these. No home game sales will be available from the Ticket Office Windows.
Tickets can be printed out or shown on a smartphone at the turnstiles, with gates opening at 1:30pm.
iFollow Info
If you can’t make it to the JobServe Community Stadium on Good Friday, you can watch all the action live with a £10 iFollow Video Pass. Click HERE to get yours.
