NEWPORT County AFC midfielder Adam Chapman admits he couldn’t complain about being out of the side during the Exiles’ superb run of form but now he’s desperate to reclaim his starting spot.

The 25-year-old was a star performer in September, forming a brilliant midfield partnership with new arrival Mark Byrne as County started a run of just one defeat in 17 League Two matches.

But Chapman has not started since the 1-0 defeat at his former club Oxford United on October 4.

An ankle injury kept him out for five weeks but he and hamstring victim Byrne have been unable to dislodge midfield trio Lee Minshull, Max Porter and Yan Klukowski since mid-November.

Byrne started at right wing-back in Saturday’s 3-0 defeat at Luton Town and Chapman got half an hour from the bench and he’s targeting a midfield starting berth against Plymouth Argyle on Boxing Day.

“It’s frustrating when you’re not getting minutes on the pitch and when you do get a taste of the action you want more but the boys have been magnificent,” said Chapman.

“The way they’ve performed and dealt with different situations in games means I couldn’t really complain.

“As a player you’re itching to get back in but if I was in the team at that time and I heard one of the other midfield boys had gone to the manager I’d have not been happy.

“But I was happy that we were climbing the table and I knew that one day I’d get my chance and the higher up the league we are when that happens, the happier I am.”

Chapman says the fact that he and Bryne and former Chelsea goalkeeper Lenny Pidgeley can’t get a start shows the strength in depth in Justin Edinburgh’s squad.

“We’ve been having a bit of banter on the bench over the last few games saying it would make a great five-a-side team,” he said.

“We’d probably beat five-a-side teams up and down the country but it just shows that the competition for places is really tough now.

“The bench is really strong even with a few players injured. That competition keeps everyone on their toes and it means everyone is desperate to get back into the side.

“We’ve had one bad game at Luton but I don’t think that takes away from the three months we’ve had,” he added.

“It’s a big game against Plymouth because of the result at Luton but I don’t think it will determine where we’ll end up this season.

“It’s just how you react to the loss and it’s important that we bounce back quickly.”