FANTASTIC news!

Finally we have signed and sealed a deal to stay at Rodney Parade and I can tell you the players couldn’t be happier about that fact.

People behind the scenes who have worked really hard and the gaffer who has pushed for it have done us proud.

If we want to kick-on it was always essential we stayed at Rodney Parade.

From the players’ point of view, it’s just better.

It’s a better ground, the atmosphere is loads better than at Spytty Park and the pitch is better even with all the bad weather we’ve had.

It was absolutely essential to our progress, it makes us more of a football club.

It gives us more scope over the next ten years to push on as a force and it is a start if the club are ever in a position to try to build their own stadium.

There are a lot of empty areas where a stadium could be built somewhere down the line.

It would also be a massive boost if they are able to get a 4G pitch put in on the Rodney Parade site.

Off the pitch as well as on it this arrangement had to be made and what you need to remember is that success for us would be a boost for the whole city.

It wouldn’t just put County on the map, it’d help everyone, the rugby, the city in general, just the same as if the Dragons went and did well in the Heineken Cup.

Obviously we are annoyed by what happened last week with the chaos and confusion about the Gateshead game.

It’s frustrating, their pitch was condemned so I don’t know what they were playing at trying to get it back there when everyone else is playing at Hartlepool.

It’s a joke really, it means we have two games in 48 hours and it’s far from ideal, it impedes training and disrupts us.

I’ve never played four games in a week before and it looked like there was a chance that might happen, something really should’ve been done about it and I can’t really fathom why the Conference didn’t intervene.

But this is where the squad is important, everyone will be needed, they all need to do their bit.

I can only speak for myself but I don’t believe it’s possible to maintain the levels of performance needed to win the league playing 270 minutes a week between now and the end of April.

You have to be realistic and that’s why I feel we are in a strong position.

When you look at the players on our bench in the last few games it really shows how much we’ve got in reserve.

That is especially true when you look at who we have to bring back in the coming weeks.

Aaron O’Connor will give us a boost, so will Max Porter and we also have boys like Ben Swallow and Jake Harris who have been out injured recently.

It’ll be a big battle just to get on our bench if everyone is fit and with a tough run-in, that’s exacty what you’d hope for. It gives us great heart and confidence about our prospects.

This weekend we are on a revenge mission against Hyde because I think the reverse fixture was one of the worst results of the season.

We lost 3-1, we got back into it and played ok, missed a good chance at 1-1, but we need to get the three points.

Actually, forget revenge, it’s about the result and I don’t mind if they batter us for 93 minutes as long as we get the win.

If we get hammered in every game between now and the end of the season and win them all I’ll have no issue with that.

I know a lot of people have written us off in terms of winning the league but we believe that’s what we can do. We aren’t looking for the playoffs and we shouldn’t be.

I enjoyed the Supporters’ Trust golf day, I’d happily play in it again but I didn’t enjoy how I played, not the best to be fair.

But there really were a lot of bandits there, some lies being told about handicaps, but we enjoyed it.

I played with David Pipe, Conor Washington and my mate Alan Tobin who is just a hanger on. He looks like Phil Mitchell chewing a wasp so we thought we better get him involved.

I am also braced for my performance on Newport County’s a Question of Sport night. The gaffer has picked me and I’m confident of impressing with my knowledge. Watch out everyone else!