COUNTY V KIDDERMINSTER (Today KO 3pm)

NEWPORT County host Kidderminster Harriers at Spytty Park this afternoon with up to six players unavailable.

County must bounce back from Saturday’s disappointing 2-1 defeat at AFC Telford United, a game they finished with just nine men.

The loss left the Exiles down in 16th position in the Blue Square Bet Premier table with five points from five games.

Midfielders Scott Rogers and Tommy Doherty were both sent off and will be suspended for today’s clash with fourth-placed Harriers.

And there was further woe for manager Anthony Hudson as left-back Lee Baker turned his ankle before the game and goalkeeper Danny Potter was forced off with a thigh strain just before half-time.

With Ryan Gilligan missing on Saturday due to illness and Darryl Knights still some weeks away from full fitness it leaves Hudson with few options for this afternoon’s match. But despite those problems Hudson is pleased his players have a quick opportunity to make amends for a lacklustre performance in Shropshire.

“It’s a very good thing that we’ve got such a quick turnaround,” he said.

“Obviously the suspensions will give us a little bit of a problem but we’ve got a dressing-room full of players who want to put it right.

“We’re under no illusions – today we just weren’t good enough.

“It killed us the way we started, it put us on the back foot. You can’t start games like that and expect anything. And the way it ended was disappointing.

“But we’ve got to be strong. We’ll get together, see who’s available and make sure we put it right.”

Hudson was just as angry with referee Peter Bankes as with his players’ lack of discipline at the end of the game.

Rogers got a straight red for pushing over Dwayne Samuels and Doherty talked himself into two bookings in the last seven minutes.

“I’m not condoning what’s happened but I can understand why players get frustrated,” said the Exiles boss.

“The first sending off was an absolute joke but we need to address how we set ourselves up. In the first half we weren’t doing the basics.

“We’ve got a lot of good players but you can’t just turn up and expect to play good football, you’ve got to earn the right to do that. Credit to Telford –˚ they worked hard.

“We never created too much and we didn’t look ourselves but every team is going to have an off day and we’ve had one. The most important thing is that we react the right way.”

County (likely line-up): Thompson, Hughes, Warren, Yakubu, Rodgers, Rose, Miller, Velez, Foley, Buchanan, McAllister.

Subs: Harrison, Hatswell, Robson, Gilligan, Jardim.