BRADFORD City manager Derek Adams insisted he didn’t hear the heckles from the Newport County AFC crowd after copping plenty of flak at a raucous Rodney Parade.

The Scottish boss led Morecambe to promotion with a contentious victory over the Exiles in May’s League Two play-off final.

He then infuriated County’s staff and fans with his post-match interview at Wembley, so predictably was the subject of plenty of chanting from the terrace.

The Parade dugouts are a mere five metres away from fans but the heckling apparently fell on deaf ears.

“I didn’t actually hear anything this afternoon,” said Adams when somehow keeping a straight face.

“People were saying beforehand [that there would be some abuse] but I didn’t hear anything today.”

Adams was booked in the second half after diverting the ball as it was kicked towards Cameron Norman for a throw-in.

That led to verbals from County captain Matty Dolan and goalkeeping coach Jim Hollman yet the visiting boss insists he was the wronged party.

“I put the match ball back onto the pitch,” he said. “The match ball went off the pitch and I knocked it back on.

“Their number 2, Norman, took one of our balls out of our warm-up bag and wanted to take the throw-in. The referee didn’t understand that but I will get an apology off him soon.”

Adams was pleased to leave with a draw after praising County for giving them their hardest game of the campaign.

"We had to deal with a lot of pressure. In seasons gone by we probably would have lost that game but I think the mental strength was there today," he said.

"This is a difficult venue to come to and I thought we dealt well with the whole occasion. 

"I think this is the toughest game we’ve had this season. We haven’t come up against a team who threw everything at us like they did – they put crosses into the box and corners and free-kicks. That’s how they try to get the goal."