WE’RE about to enter the final third of the season and Newport County AFC are still propping up the entire Football League.

Friday night’s draw against League Two leaders Doncaster Rovers was another encouraging step towards safety as the Exiles extended their unbeaten run to five games.

And, given that Leyton Orient are away to second placed Plymouth Argyle, Graham Westley’s men could climb off the bottom if they can beat Grimsby Town at Rodney Parade tonight.

For the first time in a while there is genuine optimism amongst the fans that the club can avoid relegation.

But the supporters and, more importantly, the management and players know that they need to turn draws into wins over the next few weeks just to keep in touch with the clutch of teams above the drop zone.

Orient are now the team most likely to go down according to most bookmakers but County are second favourites with odds of 11/10 at most outlets.

In other words, despite the recent upturn there is still a very real danger that the Exiles will lose the League status they fought so hard to regain over 25 years from 1988 to 2013.

If they were to go down, many fans would no doubt be calling for Westley to be sacked and the manager may well be tempted to move on.

But a line in the recent monthly newsletter to supporters suggests that the club is planning to retain the manager and he’s planning to stay.

The newsletter said: “There was a productive discussion on the way in which Graham Westley thinks his off-field team should develop into next season.”

The board of directors and the manager may both think differently if the club is relegated but in my view that statement is a big positive for County.

If Westley keeps them up he will have a good base to build from and he can aim higher next season.

If, however, the club finds itself in the Conference there are few better managers than Westley at that level.

His 13 new additions since January 1 are making a difference on the pitch and he’s definitely making the club a more professional outfit off the pitch.

Given a full campaign with his own team, Westley’s Exiles would be amongst the favourites for promotion.

And, with the turnover of managers since Justin Edinburgh’s departure two years ago, the club is crying out for some stability from the top.

That’s a view backed up by captain Scot Bennett, who has already played for three managers in his short time at the club.

“The aim is to stay up and we hope we achieve that,” the skipper told me this week “But if not then you always want stability at the club.

“We hope to build on what we’re doing at the moment and even if we do go down I feel we can build.

“You don’t want to be changing managers left, right and centre.

“The gaffer knows the league and he’s starting to put his own stamp on things now.

“He’s brought in a lot of players and that has definitely made us stronger – the results show that.

“The results are coming and everyone now believes that we can get out of the situation we’re in, whereas before maybe we didn’t.”

Victory tonight will be another big boost to that belief and Grimsby boss Marcus Bignot, older brother of County defender Paul, is prepared for a battle in Newport.

“Don’t read [too much] into the league table. They’re fighting for their livelihoods,” said the Mariners boss, whose side was thumped 5-0 at Crewe Alexandra on Saturday.

“We’ve got to stand up to that and be better than them.

“When you’ve got people fighting for their livelihoods it can be difficult but we’re hurting as well and we’ve got something to fight for as well so it’s going to be a right good fight.

“The football pitch, the way it is, and the way Newport set up to play on that pitch presents it that way so we’ve got to face it head on.

“It’s going to be a war of nutrition, a battle of wills and who wants it the most.”

We’ll assume he meant ‘war of attrition’ there rather than a Bugsy Malone-style food fight but the main point still stands.

It’s about attitude as much as aptitude at this stage of the season and on that Rodney Parade pitch.

“It wasn't actually as bad as some of the video work we'd done suggested but it's clearly a horrendous pitch,” said Doncaster boss Darren Ferguson after Friday night’s match.

“We were dominant in the second half but it was very difficult to create chances on a pitch like that.

“Any team that comes to Newport will be in for a tough game.”

And let’s hope Bignot follows the likes of Keith Curle, Dave Jones and Ferguson in complaining about the playing surface tonight because it will more than likely mean that he hasn’t got the result he wanted.