JUSTIN Edinburgh says Tuesday’s 1-0 win over struggling Ebbsfleet United was the most important three points of the season for his side.

The Newport County AFC manager admitted that they were below par but the victory was a vital one as it took the Exiles clear of the chasing pack at the top of the Blue Square Bet Premier.

According to Edinburgh it should also act as a wake-up call to his players and the County fans, if it were needed, that every game will be a real battle if they are to maintain their promotion push this season.

“I said before the game that I thought it would be one of our toughest nights of the season and it was,” said the Exiles boss.

“I think Ebbsfleet are a good side and I made it quite clear to the players that this was our most important game of the season. “I knew what the atmosphere would have been like in the crowd. Looking at Ebbsfleet’s position in the league they would have expected us to win by three or four clear goals.

“It was tough but the crowd remained vocal and supportive throughout and there will be more games like that this season.

“Teams are not going to come here and let us play the way we want to play and sometimes you have to give the opposition credit for making it hard for you.

“But we got another clean sheet and another three points so we’re happy.

“I think the crowd will realize what a valuable three points that is,” he added.

“We’re doing very well but we won’t get ahead of ourselves. This group is very grounded. They work hard every day in training and they are fully focused on winning every game they play in.”

The scrappy win over Ebbsfleet was in marked contrast to the thrilling victory at Tamworth on Saturday but Edinburgh was not surprised by how hard it was.

“Some people came here expecting a goal glut but it’s not going to happen every game,” he continued. “The team has got to entertain but every game is going to be a tough game.

“People are going to come here and make it tough but nobody has left here with three points this season and that is a source of pride for us.

“On Saturday we played excellent football but sometimes you have to look at the opposition and, credit to them, they didn’t allow us to play.”

Striker Danny Crow was forced off in the first half with a hamstring strain on Tuesday and County should learn this morning how severe the injury is.


“We took a chance on Danny because he felt it in the warm-up and with a player of his quality we made the decision to start him,” said Edinburgh.


“Maybe that backfired a bit but we had a Jefferson Louis to come on and hopefully we pulled him off before too much damage was done.


“He’ll go for a scan and we’ll know how bad it is by Thursday morning.”


l Baramber at Spytty Park will host a County quiz night tonight at 7.30pm.