NEWPORT County AFC head to Shrewsbury Town today looking to extend a five-game unbeaten run and pass another big test in their second League Two campaign.

The Exiles earned a point at relegated Tranmere Rovers on Tuesday and face another side who were in League One last season at Greenhous Meadow this afternoon.

Midfielder Adam Chapman, one of County’s most impressive performers in recent weeks, says another positive result will prove that the squad is good enough to compete at this level.

“We’re pretty happy at the moment,” said the 24-year-old.

“We’ve started to learn how to get over the line and slowly and steadily we’re progressing.

“We looked solid at Tranmere and, even though Joe Day made some great saves, we didn’t feel massively under threat for most of it.

“It was nice to know that we could go away to a top side who have just been relegated and hold our own,” he added.

“We’re five unbeaten but games like this are a big test. “We’ve passed one test on Tuesday and we need to do the same at Shrewsbury.”

Manager Justin Edinburgh will be without defender Kevin Feely for the next two to four weeks as he recovers from a minor operation on a toe injury.

But he is hoping fellow defenders Ismail Yakubu and Ryan Jackson are fit to play today.

“With us losing Kevin, Ismail is a ready-made replacement,” said the Exiles boss, who could have to leave out one of Jackson, Robbie Willmott and Andy Sandell.

“I might have some tough calls on selection but I’d rather have decisions like that to make than the team picking itself.”

Strikers Joe Parker and Shaun Jeffers and goalkeeper Jamie Stephens will not be involved after they all moved out on loan this week.

Parker returned to his former club Gloucester City on a one-month loan deal on Thursday, while Jeffers and Stephens are both heading to Gloucester’s Conference North rivals Brackley Town.

The Argus understands that at least one other member of Edinburgh’s squad rejected the chance to move out on loan and the manager admitted in his weekly press conference on Thursday that he has too many strikers to keep everyone happy.

“It’s tough because some have had chances and some haven’t but that’s football – you might only get one chance and you’ve got to make sure you take it,” he said.

“We are a bit overloaded in that department so there’ll be no prizes for guessing that one or two of them might be strikers.”