NEWPORT County AFC boast the best defensive record in League Two over the past six games and manager Graham Westley now wants his new-look team to develop a cutting edge going forward.

County have conceded just three goals in their current six-match unbeaten run – fewer than anyone else in the division over that period.

The fact that they remain bottom of the table, still four points from safety with a game in hand, is largely down to the Exiles scoring just five goals in those six games.

And, ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Cambridge United, Westley concedes that his side need to improve going forward if they are to start turning draws into wins and start climbing the table.

“If you’d have said six games ago that we’d be six unbeaten and over six games we’d have the best defensive record in the league, people wouldn’t have believed you,” said the manager.

“Teams attack and defend as one so the defensive record is the team’s defensive record.

“People can point to Mark O’Brien as being an absolutely outstanding Championship-level defender and he is.

“His performances have been top drawer and they tell you everything about why he’s played so many Championship games. But the team’s defensive record is about the team.

“We need, clearly, to fine tune what we’re doing going forward, adapt our attacking patterns of play and learn more about each other and gain fluency.”

Westley argues that becoming more potent in attack will take longer than tightening up at the back.

“The defensive side of it is always easier to get right but it still takes a lot of hard work,” he said.

“We only conceded 10 fouls the other night and there were times before Christmas when I was despairing when we were conceding 20 fouls in a game.

“It was just lazy defending – players were lunging into tackles because they didn’t want to do the work.

“They were going to ground and giving themselves up, allowing runners to go off, but the team now has got a work ethic about it.

“They’re staying organised, they’re doing their own job and trying to cover for their mate so there’s so much that they’ve improved in the defensive side.

“We need to sustain that obviously and build on that platform by getting better understanding of each other’s strengths and making sure that we develop our cutting edge.”

Westley is hoping to add to his attacking options with the return of Sean Rigg from injury.

And there will be at least one change at the back with Darren Jones starting a two-match suspension after picking up his 10th yellow card of the season in Tuesday’s 0-0 draw with Grimsby Town.

Captain Scot Bennett should be fit to replace Jones and Westley believes the rest will do the 33-year-old good.

“At his age having a breather from the relentless, remorseless nature of the situation is always beneficial,” he said.