TRISTAN Abrahams wants to claim more cup scalps with Newport County AFC after his Carabao Cup double dumped out Swansea City to earn a crack at Cambridge United.
The Exiles will host their League Two rivals in round two on either Tuesday, September 15 or Wednesday, September 16 after adding the Swans to the scalps of Leicester, Middlesbrough, Leeds and Blackburn.
County also earned a replay against Tottenham and made sure Manchester City didn’t have things all their own way in lucrative Rodney Parade encounters.
READ MORE: The talking points from County's cup upset against the Swans
Abrahams is dreaming of beating the U's and taking on either League One's Oxford United or Watford, who were relegated from the Premier League last season, in round three in Newport.
“After watching the club’s previous cup runs over the past few years, I would love to be involved in one,” said the forward, who struck twice in the first half against the Swans.
“It would be special if we could take on some more big teams, beat them and progress further in this cup.”
Abrahams scored 10 times in all competitions in 2019/20 after making the move to Rodney Parade last summer.
The 21-year-old scored a hat-trick against Cheltenham in the EFL Trophy in November and could easily have been heading home with another matchball.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better start personally and I probably should’ve got a few more goals, but I’m grateful to get two. Hopefully I can kick on and get a few more this season,” said the former Norwich frontman.
“We’ve been raring to go for such a long time and I’ve really been missing football. It felt so good to be back out there with everything that’s gone on.”
“I have to give the whole team praise for the way that we defended,” he continued. “Swansea are a Championship side and they did attack well but I thought we minimised the chances that they had. “It’s another positive that we managed to come away with a clean sheet too.
“I thought the boys did well and we held our own out there. Hopefully we can take this forward now into the league season.
“We did ourselves proud and I think that’s proved how hard we’ve worked during pre-season. That’s all paying off now.”
Abrahams grasped his chance and it’s likely that others will get an opportunity to impress against Cheltenham in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday evening.
Michael Flynn boasted Padraig Amond, Ryan Taylor and Saikou Janneh on his bench against the Swans and wants to use the midweek fixture to build towards the League Two opener at Scunthorpe.
“The manager said that we’ve set the bar now and we’ve got to keep working at that level,” said Abrahams.
“I appreciate all the opportunities that he’s given me, so I’m just trying to repay the faith that he’s put in me. I want to show that I can play at the highest level possible because I believe I can.
“Getting some momentum in the first few games is so important, so hopefully we can carry that into the first league game now.”
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