 Brought to you by DIS, keeping companies connected with cloud-based solutions. Come on, City! Stuart, good to chat with you, as always. Firstly, can I get an update on Bryces Anna? How's he? Yeah, the good news is that the extra doesn't show any crack or fracture, which is positive, but he's still in a little bit of discomfort. We'll give him every chance to be available for Saturday. He's feeling better each day, so that's a positive sign. Zellie and Gareth, as well, I know they will hopefully be back in training this week. Yeah, Restore and join in today, Rhys is fine. Gareth and Zellie did a lot of work, so we're hopeful in the next, as I say, seven to ten days that they'll be back in contention. Levi did their running on treadmill, they'll be out on the grass tomorrow. So as I said last week, I think they're always only going to be another couple of weeks maximum, but Rhys will be definitely available for Saturday, and it'll be a little bit early for the other three. Just on that full-back position that Bryces occupied on Tuesday, if I get my days right, presumably then that would see Tyler come back into contention and take that spot? Possibly. We have got other alternatives as well, depend what shape we go. But I thought Tyler did fine again when he came on on the other night. So yeah, he'd be one that would come into our mindset, as I say, will decide on the formation and what we think will suit his best, how we can go and hopefully hurt Newport, and then we'll take it from there. But yeah, certainly being the mix naturally. I meant to ask you this question on Tuesday, even actually, but just how disruptive is it for you when you go in at the halftime break and you've got an injury that you may not have been expecting, and of course you can call upon players to bring in, but it must be a little disruptive for you? Well, yeah, it's part and parceling, and we get to know, but I mean, especially when you're a goal down and you're probably looking to bring on you're a tap-minded players to have to put on a defender at halftime, it's a bit frustrating and obviously it just leaves us to go behind, we're obviously clarking, we've got Curtis and we've got Austin as strikers to come on. So, yeah, I think when you have to use one on a defensive one, when it's not tactical, it's frustrating, but it happens. It's part of football, you've got to go on with it. Yeah, you mentioned you haven't fully decided how you'll set up and who you'll play for Newport, but what are your initial thoughts on how you may go about challenging a side that are a joint second in the league at the moment? Yeah, 1-5 out of 7, obviously had a good cut run as well, so they're playing at the top of the game, won the last two games 1-0, so obviously defensively very secure and solid, don't concede a lot of goals, but it's up to us then to find a way to break them down and take the chances that we create and play on the front foot and just be very, very positive in every game we go into. I've said it countless times, but we always look at opposition, we're actually aware of the strengths and weaknesses, but we only ever pick a side on how we can hurt teams and whether we change the formation or not. There's never been a moment in my career, unless it's been a European tie with Motherwell or going to a range or Celtic away from home, that you go with a mindset of how don't we lose this game, especially at home, so we're fully focused on coming up with a system and a way of playing that hopefully we can create opportunities as always. I'm right in saying that they've adopted that three at the back formation or five however you want to view it. I know people speak in different ways, but what have you made of how they've gone about doing that? Yeah, they've played it well. Not by Marty Dolam, he's a little boy, I mean obviously he's a 5'11 or whatever he's. He used to be at Bradford a few years ago, he was playing in the middle of the defence and he managed to start attacks off and come out from the back. Two big lads next to him. The wing backs get forward to mobile strikers wherever they pick and a good choice in midfield. So yeah, they've got some good footballers. I think everyone's talking about playing a lot more football though this year than last year, but I think that's probably slightly unfair because you know at this stage, not this stage last year, but when we went to play him, Flinnie was doing a terrific job, getting under fire as you do from supporters at certain times because they weren't doing as well as they'd done the previous season when they got to the playoffs. But the amount of injuries they had, they had so many injured to keep players and plus trying to play football on their field, which was in really poor condition was difficult. So they're playing or people perceive a lot more football, but they're getting the results and I think the confidence is running high throughout the group. It's a good game to look forward to. I think it's one that we believe if we can play in the front for as I said that we can get a positive result from it. And it's an opportunity in itself as well, isn't it? Because if you do get a good result against a side that, yes, early doors, the second in the league, it lays down somewhat a marker for the rest of the league but also gives you a great deal of belief within the squad, I imagine. Yeah, probably. To be honest, we just go from game to game. Once you win a game or lose a game or draw a game, you move on, especially now, you know, sadly Tuesday, sadly Tuesday. So as you can imagine, as most clubs will do, they'll utilise the squads in the next few weeks without a doubt to freshen things up. And that's that been no different to ourselves. But yeah, obviously winning breeds confidence, but there's no lack of confidence in the group. You know, I've watched the game back from the other night and I've got to be honest, apart from after the goal of 10 minutes, and it fired me at 10 minutes spell after the goal, then we weren't in no trouble, really. We put a lot of dangerous balls in and just didn't get them in the end of them or they got good blocks in, a lot more opportunities than you would imagine, really. So the way we played, although there were a little bit of slop in this first half, but I thought second half were right on top of it. And again, don't change me a belief in that, over the piece, we were the dominant side or certainly made enough more opportunities to win the game and never felt in any danger once we got the equaliser that we would lose. Yeah, on reflection of that as well, do you have to accept some that also just did well to defend the pressure that you were putting onto them and you talk about the blocks that they put in, having watched it back myself as well, they did a lot of that? Yeah, certainly sure. I look at it back in the first half, Dylan and Bryce will get to dead ball and put some dangerous balls back. Woody's put a couple balls in. But listen, you've got to give credit to the opposition sometimes. If you're putting balls in from good areas, as long as you're not putting them in from deep and where you can't really get any opportunity and get to dead ball line and pull them back or get them across the face of the goal or hang them up back stick, you do all sorts of, as we work in training, all sorts of different quality from wide areas. And then, you know, you look at our best three chances against Harrogate, came from long balls from back to front and Clirts and Nors did really well and that's where our three best chances against Harrogate came. So you've got to be able to make it, make it up, have a variety. But if there's a certain area of the opposition team that you think you can get at, then, you know, that's what you aim to do. And you mentioned as well, you weren't too troubled from the defensive point of view and Anthony O'Connor has been included in the second time in as many team of the weeks as it were for his performances. What have you made of what he's done in the last two games? Yeah, I think he's been solid all season. Obviously a little bit of a blip down at Forrest Green when he gets caught just by a bit of pace from the attacking midfielder of Forrest Green we'd highlighted, you know, he's not often you get really quick midfield players and he just caught Anthony out and obviously brought him down. But other than that, I think he's been solid. He's come back out as we poured it and been really consistent all season up to now. And what do you do at the back then with pouredy? Of course, coming back, I know he was on the bench for the game on Tuesday evening, but will you look to try and put him in into the starting level or do you want to try and keep the defence as much the same as you can do? Yeah, we look at everything. I'm certainly not going to be discussing it on a Thursday prior to game on a Saturday, what we're going to be doing. But he's in the contention. Likewise, Rhys has trained today and trained really well and if we go to a back three, but Ben, for the last two games, has been solid and his confidence is a little bit more assured now. So it's a nice problem to have as long as players keep on top of the game then it's good that managers have got decisions to make. But pouredy has trained well today. So, as always, it comes into our thoughts. I just want to get a couple of questions in respect to the COVID climate that we're in. It seems to be the ever developing situation. Mal Benning at Mansfield has tested positive. I don't think he was included in the squad for their game on Tuesday evening. So the last time he played will have been against yourselves. Does that affect you at all? Do you have to do anything further now that you've learnt about that information? No, I've just heard about it there, actually. But we followed all the protocols on the day, as did they. None of their players have shown any symptoms since. But now I take your point. I think you'll have to look. I think it was David Dun, up at Barrow, having to self-isolate. Obviously Harry Culler, Oldham, Mark Llylis, and Cogchit Scunthorpe, the coaching staff and management there. So it seems to be a lot more people contacting it now, getting it. But I think the key is with the players, is as long as you're doing your social distancing and everything that goes about, if one person does unfortunately get it and not obviously by his illness, we don't want him to be ill. But if they do get it, then we don't go through the club. So as long as we keep doing what we're doing, we'll be okay. Does it increase your dialogue at all with the players or heighten you in any way, shape or form? More so. And I caveat that with the point that, of course, Wales going to their circuit breaker from this weekend and Newport coming from South Wales and coming from a COVID affected area. Do you have to just be more aware as a group? Yeah, always. We've done that in from day one. Obviously it was looking, it was relaxing a little bit, wasn't it, but we're back struggling a little bit again in the country now, aren't we? So yeah, we've just got to be worthy of that. As I say, I think it will be most players or most clubs have had the player or a member of staff that have got it and have had to isolate. And I'm sure some said we're not sure, but it won't surprise me at some stage. We might have that, but as I said, one or two getting it is different to going through the club. And all you can do is follow the protocol and make sure that doesn't happen. Cheers, Stuart. Go on. Thank you. And the last three home games, quite openly said afterwards that you haven't started as brightly and as fast as you'd like to. And clearly that is what you're telling the players. How frustrated is it for you when you're watching for the sidelines that it isn't quite clicking at home at the start of the games? Yeah, I think to be honest, I think the Harrogate game definitely, they started better than us. Obviously Lincoln possibly cut it, but watching the game back there on Saturday, or Tuesday, should I say, we were all okay. We started okay. I think the key at the moment, certainly home games, even in all the games we've played, the cup games and that, we've not got as noisy ahead. We haven't gone and go all up at home. We've always having to claw it back, Stevenage and obviously the other day there, but it'd be nice to go ahead. But yeah, it's something we're always on about a good start, a positive start. We've got that at Mansfield, but that's what you're named to. And I think the key is, when you do have a good start, is scoring when you're on top. Callum was saying that there's a difference this year, though, that you have gone behind. But again, Stevenage, he came back and won the game, and the other night he came back and shouldn't have won it in many ways. And that resilience is new this year in some way. It wasn't there last year. It's like the heads dropped if they weren't behind. Yeah, well, we'll see as the season goes on. But at the moment, there seems to be, I've said since we come in, there's a good determination mentality, if you like, among the group. So yeah, I mean, we don't want to go behind in games naturally. We'd like to take the lead, but if we do go behind, we've got to have it in his look at that. As I said to him, and I've always said, once a goal goes in and the referee is giving it, and there's no var and we're not waiting for that, then we can't do anything about that. It's your mentality there after that. Can we go get hit them and get a go back, not be despondent for five or 10 minutes? I thought that the other night, as I said, when they scored, when Walsall scored, just about five minutes after it, they had another half chance. And that's the thing you've got to be wary of, not be despondent. The score will go, okay, so we've got plenty of time to go get another one or two. That's the mindset. It's more a mentality thing. And I think if you do go go behind, how quickly can you go get one back? I suppose as well confidence in the players, and they all seem very confident, not only in their own ability, but in those around them as well. Yeah, as I said, we've got a decent group. They're all working hard behind the scenes. We've had a couple of little blows already this season, which you're going to get throughout the course. Obviously the linking game, that was, you know, saw one to take naturally. And the disappointment, we had a couple of weeks ago at home. But other than that, all in all, it's been a solid start. There's been some players who've been consistent. There's some that have been very good, and then not so good. And there's some who've just not managed to get in yet. So, but it's a healthy enough squad. As you said several times, there's a lot of Saturday, Tuesday games coming up now. But not just the league, but other competitions. How much do you have to look ahead and think that player is going to need a rest or that one I need to get him in and get him in about 20 minutes? Yeah, certainly it can be the case. But things changing games. You know, I didn't think Clayton would do three games in seven, eight days there. But his performance against Mansfield made him stay in the game for Warsaw. But there is certain games where you're going to mix it up and you'll look at certain... Listen, the most important game is the next one. And we've got to focus on that, whatever. But when the games are, as you say, coming in thinking fast, there will be certain players that will be more suited to playing against certain teams. They're all playing different systems at the moment in our people, one with three big strong ones at the back or three up the front or two wide or whatever it may be. But certain players might have more influence against the different formation. No, I think first and foremost, you look at the next game, see the... But what I would say from the other night, when you look at the stats and the data now, which is a modern game, you've got to take all that into account. We covered actually quite a few more metres than we did against Mansfield, but the high intensity running was almost half. And that sort of tells you that there is going to be a drop-off if you go three or four games back to back. But some players have got the fitness capacity to do it. The other ones will need freshening up. Cheers, Stuart. Good luck on Saturday. Cheers, thank you. You're saying, Stuart, obviously you're now getting into what, two months into the season. After such a long break, you're thinking a way the team are getting up to speed, if you go. You're getting sort of that game sharpness, because obviously it was such a long absence, wasn't it? Yeah, I'd like to think so. I'm sure if you asked the players, as I said before, when I do the pre-season or when I was a player, it took me four or five games pre-season to get a lot of games, and then two or three games when she get into the season. So everyone's different. But yeah, there should be, you know, I listen again to the Champions League games the other night, and you don't know people who are just making excuses for them, saying, oh man, sitting maybe they're not up to speed yet, or somebody else is not up to speed yet, but, you know, they've been in them for a while and they're working hard. I think it comes with stairs now, as you say, Simon, with two months in, you know, we should be beginning to see the best of them now, yeah. And they've also, on the other side of the coin, they've adapted probably to the weird environment that's going to take a while to get your head round, isn't it? Yeah, it was funny enough, I was walking down the touchline with Darryl Clarke the other day, and the key is for us, I mean, I missed it so much when I was out, and I'm loving every minute of it. Obviously when we get disappointed with the results, not so much, but coming into training, and watching the players having games to look forward to, I'm relishing every moment of it, but, you know, I can imagine that would be 10 times if we can get the, start getting the supporters in here. You know, he was saying, I think, Flinnie's made a comment about it, it's going to be like a shell, isn't it, when they come here, used to coming here, we're 14, 15,000 against them. So, as much as we're fortunate that we're still playing football, and we're still having games to try to go and win, it's still, you know, not this naturally, not the same without any crown, without any atmosphere. But it is what it is, and I keep saying, we've got to make the best of it and make sure when crowds are allowed in, that we're open about it. Obviously you mentioned Flinnie there, I mean, I think this is his fourth full season he's going into now as a manager, so he's obviously gained quite a lot of experience and he's had quite a lot of exposure. Are you surprised in a way that he's perhaps still at Newport? Yeah, possibly. As I said, I think it's not cycles, and I remember last year just prior to him playing him, in fact, I don't even think I've come in at Bradford, and he was getting a little bit of criticism, or, you know, from outward people who don't know what's going on at the club, but then when you actually looked at the injuries that had, you know, he was struggling to get his best players out and park, and that has a big effect. So, but I think obviously, prior to that, he was linked with a couple when they got to the playoffs, but he gets his head down, works hard, and he's done a really good job at Newport, and I'm sure they'd be like to still have him, and obviously I did to this season's good cup run, brings him more exposure, and he's a, you know, he was a good professional player, a winner, and I'm sure he's taken that into his management, as you know, he can tell he's very thorough in everything he does. And obviously you managed him, he was never shy in having an opinion, I mean, was he always sort of a managerial type? Could you sort of see that in him? Yeah, and yeah, there's nothing wrong with having a player, you know, being sort of a bit of a leadership in that, you know, you need leaders, you know, we can't say or don't like him having an opinion, telling him to shut up when we're actually crying out for leaders, so, yeah, he was, he played with his heart on his sleeve, he was a good type, ones that he'd want in your dressing room, he could mourn a bit, but hey, you know, the greatest players mourn a lot, but you always knew what you were getting from as a manager, as a coach, you could trust him, whatever you asked him to do, you could trust him. You might not always be an 8 out of 10, but you'd trust him to give everything he's got on the park and, you know, that's a good, especially at this level, you know, if you can, if you trust people to go out and be at it and not get affected by other things or, you know, if it's not the type of perfect pitch or nice weather or whatever, but you know, you can send plenty out in a t-shirt and pouring down rain, you get the same performance as well. And again, like yourself, he's got that affiliation with the club as well, which is, you know, I think, supporters like to see and probably players buy into that, don't they? Because they can sort of see that connection. Yeah, yeah, yeah. As I said, I know, I've sported a couple of times this season. I know when obviously COVID stroke, we were all, you know, released a lot of players. And I remember him, you know, he bit the hats and then they got the boy Bennett back, didn't they? And they've made a couple of decent signs, but I think they've got a solid, solid sign there for a few years now. And that helps, you know, immensely. He saw that with Harry at the other night. If you can build a squad and have, you know, most of your key elements still with you for a couple of seasons, you can then bed down and people buy into what you're doing. But yeah, he's certainly done a really good job. Brought to you by DIS, keeping companies connected with cloud-based solutions. Come on, City!