NEW signing Mickey Demetriou says the challenge of helping Newport County AFC to avoid relegation from League Two was what brought him to Rodney Parade.

The defender was a first-team regular as Shrewsbury Town won promotion from League Two in 2015 but was released last summer after an injury-hit campaign.

A broken foot sustained in pre-season scuppered a move to League One Fleetwood Town and Demetriou was without a club until Graham Westley persuaded him to sign a short-term deal with the Exiles this week.

The 26-year-old, one of nine new arrivals this month, is likely to start on the bench against Colchester United this afternoon as he works his way back to full fitness.

But he’s confident that his experience will prove valuable as Westley’s new-look side aims to climb off the bottom of the table in the coming weeks.

“I had interest [from other clubs] but nothing that really suited me so I’m coming her to do a job,” said the left-back.

“The predicament of where the club is – fighting relegation – is obviously playing on people’s minds when they come here.

“But I came for a few days and looked at the players and the squad that the gaffer is trying to build.

“He’s bringing his own players in now and hopefully we can get out of where we are.

“It’s a challenge and I’m looking forward to it,” he added.

“I’ve been there before and you can get out of it.

“You’re only a couple of wins away and we’ve got a game in hand over Notts County so if we win that then we’re only two points away from it.

“We’ve just got to put a couple of wins together and we’re out of the bottom two.

“Hopefully we go and do that in the next couple of games.

“It’s going to be tough, don’t get me wrong. It will be a good achievement from where we are – five points adrift – but everyone has to feel that [we can survive].

“There’s no point in playing if we don’t.”

Demetriou is hoping to that the new signings can lift the mood at Rodney Parade today.

“Losing eight games on the bounce is going to be hard for anyone and hardest for the players that are here already,” he said.

“Hopefully the players coming in will give everyone a bit of a lift.

“There are a few players who have experience of doing well in this league, like me, and hopefully I can bring that experience of that to the lads.”

As for his future beyond the summer, he added: “For now it’s just about getting back and then we’ll look at it at the end of the season and who knows what happens after that.

“Obviously the gaffer can’t take too many risks with somebody who has been injured but he knows the ability that I have got when I get back to fitness.”