NEWPORT County boss Peter Beadle turned more John Major than Sergeant Major this week, and it appears to have paid dividends.

The Exiles manager ordered his players in on Tuesday night for a back to basics' meeting, with the evidence suggesting it did just the trick.

Ahead of tomorrow's vital Blue Square South clash with Bishop's Stortford at Spytty Park, Beadle praised his team for bouncing back from a four game winless run in the league with a 2-1 victory at Welling United.

It came just 24 hours after Tuesday's summit meeting.

He explained: "We got all the players in, we watched the entire Lewes match from Sunday, watched some more action from this season and even some stuff from the last campaign.

"We talked very candidly about our dip in form, it wasn't about blame, it was about finding out how the players felt and it was a productive evening.

"Lewes made us look dreadful on Sunday (losing 3-1) but all they did was play a game high on efficiency, they cut out the mistakes and played with a good tempo.

"That is what I know we can do, it is about going back to basics and the players really responded at Welling.

"It was a good team performance, not a great game by any means, but we cut out the mistakes and were comfortable in the end."

Beadle reserved special praise for teenage goalkeeper Scott James, who deputised for the injured Glyn Thompson and for Paul Cochlin, who marked his first appearance for 15 months with a fairytale winning goal.

"Scott came in and did everything we could've asked of him," he said.

"He's a young lad but he was confident and composed, he didn't look out of place at all.

"I spoke to Paul Cochlin yesterday and he says he's changing his name to Paul 1 in 1' Cochlin, he thinks he's a centre-forward now," he joked.

Adding: "Paul was superb and it vindicates why we've continued to support him and keep him on despite him not playing for us for over a year.

"He's a hugely important part of this squad and him being back is a massive boost to everyone."

Beadle, who met with supporters at Baramber last night, is expecting another big performance tomorrow.

"It's vital we keep playing as we did at Welling, this is the biggest game of the weekend in our division and hopefully the league table will look a lot better for us by 5pm tomorrow," he said.

Beadle will be without defender Ian Hillier, who is a week to ten days away from a return as his hamstring injury is a slight tear, rather than a strain.

Lee Jarman and Andy Gurney both have minor groin problems but should be fit for selection, while Mark Dodds is recovered from a hip injury but likely to miss out with Cochlin keeping his place in the side.

Goalkeeper Glyn Thompson is still not 100% and while Beadle confirmed he is without question his number one stopper, James is likely to keep his place tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Beadle is still hopeful of signing free agent Ramon Calliste and Cardiff City defender Matt Smith.

Supporters have been criticising the Argus for not updating this situation - which we revealed last week - but Beadle has now confirmed they are still on his radar.

He explained: "Regarding those two it is as we were, I have spoken to Ramon three or four times this week and he's very keen to come.

"Cardiff seem willing to let Smith join on loan to play football, but it is now a case of waiting to see if the funds will be available to make it happen.

"Hopefully we'll be able to do something this week."