MANAGER James Rowberry insists Newport County AFC won’t feel the promotion pressure when they head to rivals Northampton tomorrow evening.
The Exiles slipped from third to fifth after defeat to League Two leaders Forest Green Rovers on Saturday, with Sutton and the Cobblers leapfrogging them.
They now face an important trip to Sixfields (kick-off 7.45pm) to face a fellow club that intend to be in the mix for the automatic promotion spots.
However, Rowberry has stressed that there is a long way to go in the race for the top three and that it is their Rodney Parade record that holds the key.
“These couple of games won’t define our season, because after these we have 10 home games,” said the boss, whose team face a five-game run in Newport after their midweek trip.
“I don’t think there is pressure on us at the minute, there is a long, long way to go in the season.
“I can’t talk about pressure because we won’t be feeling that, we’ve just got to focus on getting our performance right, which hopefully we will do.
“We’ve got to be more creative against Northampton because we only had six shots against Forest Green, the lowest since I’ve been here. There was a reason for that and we will work our ways around that to make it better.
“I am not looking at the table, it’s game by game for us. We’ve just got to keep moving forward.”
County lost 1-0 to the Cobblers at Rodney Parade in September and have been warned to expect another bombardment after Forest Green got in their faces.
The wind and rain in Gloucestershire meant the pacesetters adopted a physical approach and that paid off with a goal in either half by in-form striker Matty Stevens.
“Northampton are lot more direct, but Forest Green were a lot more direct that I thought that they would be from what we had seen,” said Rowberry.
“Forest Green have a major ability to mix up their game, both being able to play [on the floor] and be direct, whereas Northampton are predominantly direct in what they do. We will be ready for that.”
The Cobblers won 1-0 at Walsall at the weekend with a goal from deadline day signing Louis Appere.
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