DEFENDER Ismail Yakubu believes Lee Minshull’s last gasp leveller at Accrington Stanley last week could be a turning point for Newport County AFC, writes Andrew Penman.

After defeats to Burton Albion and Northampton Town, County were heading for a third straight loss before Minshull poked home to make it 3-3.

And centre-back Yakubu says that gives the Exiles something to build on as they welcome Dagenham & Redbridge to Rodney Parade on Saturday.

“We needed that, definitely,” said Yakubu of Minshull’s goal. “Losing games drains your confidence so we needed that to get a baseline again and hopefully we can kick on from there.

“The beauty of football is that no matter how bad things seem there is still time to get back on track and we are still in a great position with half a season to go.

“Every team has a period in the season when they have a little bit of a blip and things don’t go their way but we are hopefully through that patch now.”

Yakubu is confident that County can continue their excellent home record when Dagenham come to town but he is expecting a tough encounter.

“Our home form is something we need to hold on to because that has been the platform for us being where we are in the league,” said the 28-year-old former AFC Wimbledon man.

“It’s vital that we keep that going but Dagenham are a tough side.

“They are horrible to play against because they’re very physical and they work incredibly hard so we have to be up for a fight.”

Yakubu and Co have the seventh-best defensive record in League Two so far this season but he insists that the team can improve in that department.

“Our defensive record is OK but I think it could be better and it should be better with the quality of players we’ve got,” he added.

“This is our first season in League Two and I don’t want to take away from all the hard work we’ve done but I think we can definitely improve.”