Mickey Demetriou delighted to be back in action for Newport County

The absence of Kyle Howkins through injury and Ryan Inniss due to illness meant Demetriou returned to the starting XI on Saturday.

And he played the full 90 minutes as County earned a 1-1 draw against Stevenage thanks to Jamille Matt’s stoppage-time equaliser at Rodney Parade.

Speaking to iFollowExiles after the match, Demetriou said: “I’m feeling it a little bit now but I’m obviously buzzing to be back.

“It felt really good, obviously it would have been better if we could have got the win but we’ll take a point, it stops the rot we’ve been in.

“Credit to the boys because we fought to the end like we always do and that’s something we pride ourselves on.

“We’ll never give up and we showed it with the 92nd-minute equaliser. We even had a couple of other chances afterwards as well so that shows how we keep going until the end.”

Reflecting on his recovery, Demetriou said: “We took our time with it because we didn’t want to rush it back.

“We’ve done a lot of hard work on the training ground and we’ve gone to different places to use different equipment.

“It was obviously a big help for us to use those facilities because some other clubs don’t get that. We’re very thankful for that.”

And the 29-year-old is now targeting three points at Morecambe next Saturday.

“I wasn’t expecting to be back starting,” he added.

“Ryan Inniss was unwell so that gave me the opportunity to step in and, like I said in an interview earlier in the week, if the gaffer needs me then I’m ready.

“It turned out he did need me. I’d like to say I did OK but, obviously, it would have only been better if we’d got the win.

“A point is a point, we can’t turn them down, and we go again at Morecambe.”

Read more: Newport County boss takes positives from Stevenage draw