MICHAEL PEARLMAN SAYS: Pressure is all on Hereford tonight (From South Wales Argus)

MICHAEL PEARLMAN SAYS: Pressure is all on Hereford tonight

4:10pm Tuesday 5th March 2013 in Sport

IT’S been suggested that tonight’s visit to Edgar Street is County’s biggest away game in 25-years but I beg to differ.

It’s Hereford’s biggest game of the season, one that probably makes or breaks their campaign, because both the Bulls and Luton Town are a decisive defeat away from having too much ground to make up and not enough time to do it. Just outside of the play-off positions, Forest Green are better placed. But they too are in danger of losing out because Newport, Grimsby and Mansfield have games in hand and can create a cushion that might be too much to make up.

We are starting to get to the real murky stuff now, the point in the season where you’ll take a win by any means and quality be damned and Newport fans will do well to remember that tonight.

They’ll travel in huge numbers, desperate for victory, but a point wouldn’t be a bad return at all. It would for Hereford, arguably fatal to their hopes of going up.

But doing the hard yards puts you in a strong position. Newport have taken 12 points from 12 at just the right time and on Saturday showed they can win ugly away, take a 1-0 and move on, like champions do.

This isn’t Newport's defining night, that’s yet to come. County fans can sing and shout and enjoy tonight knowing it won’t make or break their season. The hosts can’t. Manager Justin Edinburgh had privately targeted seven or eight points from the next four games and Newport already have three after Saturday. Tonight is on paper the hardest game they face in the next fortnight and as such I don’t believe it’s a must win, but the pressure isn’t on County. It just might make it their night anyway.