MIDFIELDER Max Porter says the Newport County AFC players must embrace the pressure of the League Two promotion race.

County remain sixth in the table after last weekend’s win at third-placed Wycombe Wanderers and host mid-table Morcambe at Rodney Parade this Saturday.

Porter believes the victory at Adams Park, the first under caretaker boss Jimmy Dack following Justin Edinburgh’s departure, was highly significant.

But he the real pressure, he argues, is at the other end of the table for teams battling relegation.

And the 27-year-old, who has experienced both ends of the spectrum in his three years at the club, says a promotion push is to be savoured.

“In the Conference year when we won promotion we spoke about enjoying it and not letting it become a burden,” said Porter.

“When I first came here on loan [in February 2012] we were down the bottom and I was thinking ‘I don’t want a relegation on my CV’ but it’s completely different now.

“And earlier in my career with Ismail [Yakubu] we had a couple of years at Barnet when we were fighting against relegation from League Two every year and it was horrible.

“We were just struggling to get to 50 points and that was real pressure.

“Now there is pressure but it’s how you want to view it. I see it as a great opportunity; next season I could be a League One player.

“It’s as simple as that and that’s how we’ve all got to look at it.

“You’ve got to enjoy the pressure because no one, after four games, thought we’d be in this position,” he added.

“Really there should be no pressure on us because budget-wise there are lots of teams who should be ahead of us.

“But we want to make the play-offs at a minimum and that would be an amazing achievement and progress from last year.”

Porter says the post-match huddle at Wycombe last week but it shows the sprit in the camp.

“It was a really significant win and the fans saw that with the way we responded afterwards,” he said.

“I can’t really remember what was said but being a typical football team it was probably a lot of swearing and hugging.

“I just think it was a sign that we’re all together and we’ve all come through a tough period.

“Losing a manager can be pretty unsettling but Jimmy and Hats [Wayne Hatswell] have continued Justin’s good work and we want to do well for them as much as we do for ourselves and the fans.

“We’re all together and, no matter what happens, we don’t want to throw this opportunity away.

“It sets us up perfectly for a home game against Morecambe and if we can get three points against them I think we’ll really be up and running again.”