WARREN Feeney admits his new-look Newport County AFC side is still a work in progress but he’s certain that they will continue to improve.

County return to Rodney Parade tomorrow to face Crewe Alexandra after two encouraging performances but contrasting results at Leyton Orient and Luton Town.

The Exiles won 1-0 at Brisbane Road last Saturday but were beaten 2-1 at Kenilworth Road on Tuesday after conceding a disputed penalty deep into stoppage time.

Having started the campaign with 3-2 home defeats to Mansfield Town in League Two and MK Dons in the EFL Cup – both due to late goals conceded – Feeney feels there are clear signs of progression.

“You can’t help what happened the other night – that got taken away from us,” said the Exiles boss.

“But even in the defeats we’ve had I think we’ve been playing well.

“And we’ll get better. It’s early days – we’re three games into the league – but you can see there’s a lot more commitment, a lot more passion and a lot more determination.

“There’s a lot more quality and we’re scoring goals. Every game this season we’ve scored goals and that’s a big thing.

“I think there’s a lot of positives in there,” he added.

“We’ve got good players who have played in the leagues above and won awards in the leagues above.

“I think when they gel together they’ll be a half decent side and I think we showed that the other night.”

Feeney knows that his side need to lose their habit of conceding crucial goals at the death.

“Mistakes are going to be made in football,” he said.

“The other night it incensed me that it was the 97th minute that they scored and the ref had put up five minutes of added time.

“And you’ve seen the goal but the games before that the boys know that you’ve got to keep going for 95 minutes or whatever it is.

“Unfortunately we’ve switched off for those half seconds and it’s gone against us but it’s early and we’re still learning and still gelling together and we will get it right.”

On today’s opponents, who were relegated from League One last season, Feeney said: “Crewe are a very good side. They’ve come down but they are a very good footballing side.

“They’ve got good players – Chris Dagnall, Ryan Lowe, Alex Kiwomya, George Cooper – they’ve a very good front four.

“It’s going to be a difficult game and we respect whoever we play against always but we’ll go into it full of confidence.

“It’s been a hard week with the amount of games we’ve had but I think we’ve looked stronger and fitter and hopefully we can get the result.”