COUNTY manager Justin Edinburgh has admitted he does have one January transfer target, a deal to keep on-loan midfielder Tom Naylor.

The Exiles manager, who this week turned down the chance to talk to his ex-club Portsmouth over their vacant managerial position, has seen his side go from strength to strength this season.

Despite a crippling injury list, the Exiles sit just three points off the top of League Two and are still competing in both the FA Cup and Johnstone's Paint Trophy.

With a number of first team casualties set to return in the coming weeks including Aaron O'Connor, Max Porter, Ryan Burge and Byron Anthony among others, Edinburgh stated last week that he sees no need to reinforce when the transfer window opens.

“I don’t feel we’ll need to bring anyone else in," he told Argus sport. "With five players coming back it’ll be like five free transfers so the chairman can save his money and buy me a drink instead!”

However, Edinburgh has today admitted that that policy will be changed in the case of Naylor, currently on loan from Championship outfit Derby County.

His deal expires on New Year's Eve and at the very least, Newport hope to enter talks with Derby and their new manager, former England boss Steve McLaren, about extending the agreement.

However, Edinburgh has admitted that if at all possible, his preference would be for a permanent deal.

"I feel like the returning players will make the squad more than competitive, we'd have players contesting every single position every game," he said.

"But Tom has become a key part of what we are trying to achieve here and ideally, we don't want that to change.

"Our aim if it was possible would definitely be to keep Tom at this football club long term.

"If possible that wouldn't even be a loan, if we could do it, we would love to bring Tom here permanently.

"He's enjoying himself and gets on very well with the lads, but he's not our player, he belongs to Derby County and we have to respect that.

"But he is definitely a target for us."

Edinburgh is excited about Saturday's FA Cup clash with Kidderminster with Newport in great heart after Sunday's 3-2 win over Chesterfield.

"It's our biggest result of the season, a massive win in a truly testing game," he explained.

"It's the first time any team has come to Rodney Parade and had a real period of dominance, but at 1-1 for a long spell, it looked as if there was only one winner and that was them.

"But we hung in there and created chances on the counter that swung the game completely and that showed huge character.

"The players showed composure and won the game by making good decisions and we want that to continue."