Aston Villa youngster Harry McKirdy knows there's little margin for error as Newport County chase a place in the League Two play-offs

The second-placed Shakers head to Rodney Parade for a Good Friday showdown with County that will be crucial for both sides in the battle to go up.

The Exiles are currently 12th in the table with five games to go, five points behind seventh-placed Exeter City with a game in hand.

Exeter host struggling Crawley Town at 1pm tomorrow, meaning they could be eight points ahead of Michael Flynn’s men having played two games more by the time the game begins at Rodney Parade.

“This is a massive game because we need three points,” McKirdy told the club’s official matchday programme.

“Bury are second in the table, going for automatic promotion, so they also need to win.

“It should be a good game between two teams desperate for all three points.

“Bury are near the top for a reason after 42 games this – they’ve won more games than most in League Two.

“They are an effective team, so we know it’ll be a tough game.

“But we always have confidence playing at home, whether we’re facing top of the league or bottom of the league.

“It’s Good Friday so hopefully that means a big crowd,” added the forward, who is hoping to start after scoring his first goal for the club as a substitute at Cambridge United last Saturday.

“I want to help put on a show for the fans because they’ve been brilliant with me since I signed.”

After tomorrow’s match, County travel to relegation-threatened Macclesfield Town on Monday (kick-off 3pm) before hosting leaders Lincoln City on April 27 and Oldham Athletic on April 30.

They end the campaign at Morecambe on May 4, and McKirdy says the target is five wins out of five.

“We know that we can’t drop any points if we want to have a chance of making the play-offs,” said the 22-year-old, who moved from Aston Villa on deadline day.

“We need to win every game and we believe we can do it.

“We’re unbeaten from the last five matches, and we’ve kept four clean sheets in that time so there’s no reason why we can’t win the remaining five matches.

“It would be massive for me to be involved in a potential promotion,” he added. “I’ve never played at Wembley before and that’s every player’s dream to play there.

“Every player should want to get promoted because it allows them to test themselves in a higher division.

“It would be a great achievement but if we don’t win the next five, then we won’t get into the play-offs so we can’t get too carried away with ourselves.

"We’ve got a job to do so we need to make sure we do that.”

If they do manage to get over the line, McKirdy is in no doubt that Exiles boss Flynn and his assistant Wayne Hatswell will deserve a lot of the credit.

“The lads are brilliant here, but the gaffer and Wayne Hatswell are crucial to creating a positive environment,” he said.

“They’re so professional and they create a really good atmosphere on matchday and in training, which means we’re in the right mindset to go and get results.”

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