BEN Tozer is convinced that Newport County AFC can get back to winning ways when they host Grimsby Town this Saturday.

Tozer made his first league start in eight months at the Globe Arena last weekend but his return ended in disappointment as County were beaten 2-1 by Morecambe.

And the midfielder knows there is no room for complacency as the Exiles aim to bounce back against Grimsby.

“Every-game is tough, you can’t think that you can come to Morecambe and pick up three points just like that because what happened will happen,” he told iFollow Exiles.

“If you get complacent then you’re not going to get anywhere.

“We just have to do what we’ve been doing, work hard, be honest as a team and I’m sure the results will pick back up.”

Like his teammate Scot Bennett, and manager Michael Flynn, Tozer admitted that County were well below their best at Morecambe.

“I felt like we weren’t good enough to be honest with you,” he said.

“Sometimes, you get a reality check. We’ve been doing well and getting some confidence and sometimes teams up their games against you when you are fifth or sixth in the league.

“But I don’t even think that was the case. I just think we weren’t at it as a team and it cost us unfortunately.”

Tozer is pleased to be back in the first team reckoning after a difficult time in his first season at Rodney Parade.

The 27-year-old was a regular starter under Warren Feeney and his successor Graham Westley in the first half of last season.

But he fell out with Westley in January and looked set to leave the club on loan.

That move did not materialise and a knee injury, which required an operation in the summer, further delayed his return to action.

But, having triggered a one-year contract extension and returned to fitness, Tozer is happy to be playing again.

“Obviously on a personal level I’m happy to have got my first league start for a while and played 90 minutes, I’m gutted to be honest with you,” he added.

“The result ruined the weekend in that respect.”

Tozer knows he faces a battle with the likes of Bennett, Joss Labadie, Matty Dolan, Robbie Willmott, Tom Owen-Evans, Reece Cole and Sean Rigg for a regular place in central midfield.

But he’s happy to have some healthy competition.

“It makes you work harder and harder,” he said.

“It’s healthy because you don’t want to have complacent players in the team.

“If there’s no competition then subconsciously sometimes you get comfortable and think you’ll be playing next week even if you have a poor game.

“So if you have two or three players pushing you from behind then it can only be good and if you are not doing things right then somebody is going to step in and do what you should have done in the first place.”