NEWPORT County AFC and Cheltenham Town haven’t scored a goal between them in more than six hours of League Two action – no guessing then what the top priority is for both sides tonight.

The Exiles and Gary Johnson’s visitors to Rodney Parade (kick-off 7.45pm) fought out goalless draws on Saturday after also failing to hit the target seven days earlier.

But while the net hasn’t been bulging for Michael Flynn’s troops or the Robins in their last two outings, the teams are creating plenty of opportunities in the danger zone.

Flynn and Johnson will be hoping that things click for their charges this evening, as County bid to get back into the top seven and Cheltenham look to end a four-match winless run.

“We want to take the chances and score a lot of goals, I think any manager would tell you that,” said County chief Flynn.

“Sometimes it’s not possible, you don’t play to your best, decisions go against you, but we’ll keep trying and keep trying to play the right way and cause teams problems.”

He added: “There’s no such thing as an easy game in League Two and Cheltenham will be hard to beat.

“They’ve got some good players and a good manager who is very experienced, and it’s almost like a derby so they will be up for it.

“They are hard to break down and they work hard. They’ve got some good players down the spine of the team and they battle.

“We saw that last season when at one point they could have got dragged into the relegation zone and gone down but they didn’t.

“They got out of it with a string of results and showed their resilience, and I think they are a better team this year.”

Johnson said he didn’t care if his side scored the “worst goal ever” as long as they ended their drought in South Wales.

And the experienced former Latvia, Bristol City, Peterborough and Yeovil Town manager knows his charges will have to work extremely hard for any goals.

He said: “If you are anything short of 100 per cent committed they can beat you, so we have to be organised and make sure we are in the game for as long as we can and try and get our noses in front.

“Frank Nouble is in good form and is a strong lad up front for them and Padraig Amond is also a decent player, but we defended magnificently at Yeovil so we have to do the same at Newport.”

He continued: “Newport are stronger than they were last year. It will be a tough game against a tough team.”

In team news, County skipper Joss Labadie came off with a groin strain on Saturday and faces a battle to be fit for tonight.

Mark O’Brien was ruled out of the Wycombe stalemate after bruising his foot last week and is also a doubt.

The weekend’s draw came too soon for Shawn McCoulsky (hip) and Lamar Reynolds (thigh), while Marlon Jackson (hamstring) remains sidelined.

Nigel Atangana (groin) should be back in contention for Cheltenham, Will Boyle (broken nose) could return to the starting XI and Dan Holman is fighting to get over a thigh problem.

The Robins go into the clash sitting 21st in League Two after just one victory from their first six fixtures. County are five points better off in 12th.