NEWPORT County AFC striker Seb Palmer-Houlden believes Grimsby Town are “there for the taking” at Rodney Parade this afternoon, writes Andrew Penman.

The Bristol City loanee capped a man-of-the-match performance with the final goal in County’s impressive 4-1 FA Cup win at Barnet on Tuesday.

It was Palmer-Houlden’s fourth goal of the campaign and his first since returning from a serious hamstring injury that kept him out for 11 weeks.

And the 19-year-old is hoping it kick-starts his goalscoring form as he aims to fire the Exiles up the League Two table.

“I really enjoyed the whole game, I love getting in behind and it suited me perfectly,” said Palmer-Houlden of the Barnet match.

“It was frustrating being unable to play and I’m delighted to be back.

“The injury isn’t giving me any problems now. I feel fitter and sharper than I was.

“It’s been a learning experience for me,” he added. “I need to take care of my body a bit more off the pitch, stretch a bit more, eat properly and do the right things.”

County are in the middle of a spell of eight games in 32 days, but Palmer-Houlden is not complaining about the frantic festive fixture list.

“In the last four weeks, I’ve played seven games,” he said. “That’s a massive step after coming back from injury. I love playing games, that’s what we looked forward to. Bring it on.”

Next in the firing line are Grimsby this afternoon and Palmer-Houlden dismissed the idea that the Mariners will be boosted by the new-manager bounce, having beaten high-flying Crewe Alexandra in David Artell’s third match in charge last weekend.

“They’ve got a bit of a run of form going with the new manager and he’s changed a few things, but I still think they’re there for the taking,” he said.

“I think any team are, especially here – as you saw against Stockport.

“When the crowd get behind us it’s like having a 12th man on the pitch.”

Manager Graham Coughlan is relieved to have Palmer-Houlden back and believes the youngster is almost back to the form he showed in August.

“He’s looking fitter, he’s looking sharper, and his game-time is now at a satisfactory level where he can play for 90 minutes. He’s ticked all the boxes in his recovery,” said Coughlan.

“He’s young, he’s raw and at times he’s naïve, but he’s shown glimpses of real quality.

“He’s certainly someone who is getting stronger and he’s improving. He’s a real handful.

“We’ve got to be careful that we don’t heap too much on young lads and expect too much from them.

“It’s similar with Kiban Rai – we need to look after them, tell them when they’re right and when they’re wrong and help them on their journeys. Seb has given himself a real chance in the game.

“To get him, James Clarke, Harry Charsley and Aaron Wildig back from injury going into December has helped the squad, because we were wafer thin,” he added.

“We are still light on numbers and hopefully we can get one or two more back and maybe address the depth problem in January.

“Not once this season have we had everyone available. I’m hoping, before the season ends, that I’ll have some selection headaches.”