TEENAGE goalkeeper Fraser Needham could be on the Newport County AFC bench for tomorrow’s FA Cup clash with Oldham Athletic with Jonny Maxted having missed training all week due to illness, writes Andrew Penman.

The 16-year-old academy stopper was an unused substitute for Tuesday's EFL Trophy tie against West Ham United under-21s and he could get his first taste of the FA Cup on Saturday afternoon.

“I don’t think Jonny will be available,” said Exiles boss Graham Coughlan. “I’m just hoping the illness doesn’t spread. We’ve kept him away to prevent it spreading. “He hasn’t trained all week, so we may have to dig into the academy system again.

“It’s great experience for Fraser. He’s done really well in training sessions with us, and we need them young lads to be pushing.

“Given the restrictions we’ve got, there will be opportunities for these lads.

“Kiban Rai has stepped up and grabbed his chance with both hands, and we’re looking for the next one to step through the door from the academy.”

None of County’s injured players will be back tomorrow, though there is light at the end of the tunnel.

“It’ll be a couple of weeks, but Seb Palmer-Houlden, James Clarke, Harry Charsley should be back – probably in that order over the next two to three weeks, maybe four,” said Coughlan.

“After that it will be Adam Lewis, Kyle Jameson and Oz Zanzala. Josh Seberry will be a lot longer.

“Seb’s work ethic was infectious and it’s really something that we missed when he got injured.

“We’re looking forward to having one or two back. They’ll be like new signings. They’ll be fresh faces to have around.

“We have been stretched, we have been down to the bare bones and we’ve asked a lot of the current squad.

“We haven’t had the luxury of resting players. Our lads had to keep going Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday-Tuesday.

“They’ve had an awful lot of football at this stage of the season, so to get one or two back will be healthy for the squad and for individuals.

“Hopefully we can take a bit of workload off some of them.

“But it’s where we find ourselves and it’s part and parcel of football. Any manager will say the same.”