MANAGER Graham Coughlan has vowed that Newport County AFC will be a different team when they head to Barnet in the FA Cup for the right to play giant-killers Eastleigh.

The Exiles will travel to the Hive for a round two replay after the spoils were shared 1-1 at Rodney Parade on Saturday.

It looked like County would win a third successive game for the first time under Coughlan when they led through Shane McLoughlin’s strike just before half-time.

However, the National League promotion hopefuls got a deserved equaliser in the 89th minute when Danny Collinge headed in from a corner.

It means that the pair will clash a week on Tuesday in North London with the winners bagging £67,000 in prize money and getting a clash with Eastleigh at Rodney Parade, with the winners of that tie earning £105,000.

South Wales Argus: Paul McCallum celebrates his last-gasp winner for Eastleigh against ReadingPaul McCallum celebrates his last-gasp winner for Eastleigh against Reading (Image: Press Association)

The National League side stunned League One Reading with a last-gasp winner on Sunday to book a place in the third round.

Coughlan’s side failed to hit the heights of their League Two wins against leaders Stockport and Morecambe with the boss relieved to get another crack at the Bees.

“We are still in the cup,” said Coughlan. “We had chances to put the game to bed but we didn’t, they were better than us and we got out of jail.

“They put us under pressure and started the game right – their mentality was right and ours wasn’t.

“We had a long week while they had the week off; they were fresh and we weren’t but they also looked after the ball better than us.

“We kept turning the ball over and giving it away, we were very flat and tired and paid the ultimate penalty at the end of the game.

“It was just a little bit of pressure and the lads should be able to deal with that and head balls clear from set pieces.

“We were poor with the ball, okay and organised without it, and we got away with one let’s be honest.

“It was a real stern test and we won’t be that bad when it comes to the next game at their place. We weren’t good.

“Barnet deserved their late leveller and asked a lot of questions of us; we feel a tad unfortunate that we didn’t put the game to bed and they will feel unfortunate that they didn’t create more and ask questions of our goalie.”

Barnet headed into the game on a four-game losing streak in the National League but the promotion hopefuls showed their quality, to the delight of boss Dean Brennan.

“We deserved at least a draw, our performance was very strong,” he said. “To come here and only give them one corner, that shows our dominance in possession without having that killer punch.

“We didn’t come here for a draw, we played expansive football and showed tons of bravery and we got our rewards.”

County, who travel to Tranmere on Saturday, were boosted by the return of midfielder Aaron Wildig with a 15-minute outing off the bench after a back injury.