NEWPORT County AFC midfielder Adam Chapman has rubbished the idea of a winter break, insisting Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without football.

County host League Two play-off rivals Plymouth Argyle at Rodney Parade tomorrow afternoon (kick-off 3pm) and Chapman can’t wait for some football action.

The 25-year-old blasted multi-millionaire Premier League managers and players for demanding a rest in December and January and said he loves everything about the festive fixtures, even though he won’t be able to have too many roast potatoes this afternoon.

“I love playing at Christmas,” he said. “It does my head in when you hear Premier League managers and players going on about a winter break.

“They’re on £50,000 or £60,000 a week and they’re going back to mansions so what have they got to complain about?

“They can come back to my house at Christmas if they want and see how they like that.

“It’s two games in three days and you get decent crowds with dads and kids and I love it. It’s what Christmas is about.

“I’m semi-disciplined on Christmas Day,” he added. “I treat myself to half a Christmas dinner and one drink with it.

“That’s it and I show massive discipline to stop then!

“But I’ve known players that have had a piece of chicken and three pieces of veg and drank water all day on Christmas Day and still been rubbish on Boxing Day so I don’t think it’s fair to jump on people for that sort of thing.”

County are expecting a bumper crowd tomorrow with more than 1,000 Argyle fans travelling to Newport and home supporters are advised to arrive early to avoid long queues at turnstiles.