Newport County are feeling right at home in their bid to make progress in the Checkatrade Trophy.
The Exiles take on Chelsea’s under-21 team at Rodney Parade this evening and then entertain Plymouth Argyle on Tuesday, November 13.
Manager Michael Flynn and his team suffered a 1-0 defeat at Swindon in their opening fixture, while Chelsea defeated Swindon 4-0 away.
County cannot afford another slip if they are to go through to the next stage and are feeling confident after earning a third successive League Two away win, beating Tranmere Rovers 1-0.
Flynn’s team have four of their next five fixtures at home and their only away match is at Forest Green Rovers, a club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire.
Newport made a number of changes to their team for the last Checkatrade game, at Swindon, and are likely to do the same again with crucial League Two matches coming up.
“It’s a tricky one because it’s not the usual opposition you are used to playing in League Two,” said goalkeeper Joe Day.
“League Two can be physical at times, while Chelsea’s under-21 players will come with technical attributes, fitness, pace, power – all the things that come with Premier League players really.”
Newport County’s line-up at Swindon was: N Townsend, M O’Brien, S Bennett, D Butler, R Willmott, K Marsh-Brown, C Cooper, T Hornby-Forbes, C Pring, J Matt, A Semenyo. Subs: J Day (gk), M Demetriou, M Dolan, D Pipe, P Amond, T Bakinson, J Sheehan.
Newport’s next five matches
September
Tuesday 25 v Chelsea under-21 (home, FL Trophy, 7.45pm)
Saturday 29 v Cambridge United (home, 3pm)
October
Tuesday 2 v Macclesfield (home, 7.45pm)
Saturday 6 v Forest Green Rovers (away, 3pm)
Saturday 13 v Stevenage (home, 3pm)
Checkatrade Trophy
Southern Group C
| POS. | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts | ||
| 1 |  |
Chelsea U21 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 |
| 2 |  |
Swindon Town | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -3 | 3 |
| 3 |  |
Plymouth Argyle | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 |  |
Newport County | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |