NEWPORT County striker Chris Zebroski believes the Exiles are beginning to turn the treacherous Rodney Parade playing surface to their advantage.

It was Zebroski’s acrobatic injury-time volley that saw the Exiles snatch a valuable point on Saturday against a Scunthorpe side now unbeaten in 18 in League Two.

The Exiles were much improved – especially in the first half – and deservedly avoided losing three successive home games for the first time under boss Justin Edinburgh.

And Zebroski feels his strike can be a big moment in County’s season ahead of the visit of Fleetwood tomorrow night.

“It was nice to get on the score sheet again and I felt it was what we deserved, it was disappointing to concede those goals, but they are a good team to be fair, they will be up there at the end and it was a good point in the end and something to build off for Tuesday,” he said.

“We started well in the second half but then we had a spell where we stopped getting in behind and stopped turning them and they obviously got the goal and then they built on that and caught us again.

“It was disheartening at the time but we stuck in there. We’ve done well this season and are hard to beat against the top clubs. The Cheltenham and Wimbledon games were disheartening for the lads and we’ve given a good performance when we knew we needed to, we know if we play well the results will come for us.

“You can’t make losing a habit and the point we can really build on. It was a good performance and we can now chase three points Tuesday and get back in contention for a play-off spot.

“It would’ve been our third loss in a row which would’ve been quite harsh, I don’t think we’ve lost three games in a row at home (County haven’t lost three successive league games - home or away - in 26 months) and we don’t want that to happen.”

And Zebroski felt the Exiles coped much better with their sandy surroundings.

“We are getting used to that pitch, the gaffer said we’ve got to make it to our advantage, it’s hard for other teams coming here and we can make it even harder for them,” he said.

“We need to keep pressing them, get them down in the sand in that corner down there and it can be tough, it’s difficult and can help us maintain pressure and stop teams countering on us.”

Manager Justin Edinburgh is hopeful Saturday’s late revival can act as a catalyst.

“I think we are relieved in the end to get a point, we are making it hard for ourselves here at Rodney Parade, but we’ve stopped that run of defeats and hopefully it gives us the boost we have needed,” he said.

“One or two things have caught up with us, but confidence is key and hopefully that result today can help us come back.”