Aaron Wildig: Newport County youngsters have huge potential

The 32-year-old has been given sleepless nights after the recent arrival of a baby girl to join his young son but it’s not just at home that Wildig is looking after the kids.

The skipper is one of the father figures in the Exiles squad after a summer of change in which of the 17 new arrivals only Courtney Baker-Richardson is over 24.

Wildig and co-captain James Clarke are the only players in their 30s – soon to be joined by goalkeeper Nick Townsend – and head coach Nelson Jardim is leaning on them to help their teammates who are not blessed with EFL experience.

“I was saying to Clarkey the other day that now he's out injured for a few weeks I'm five years older than anyone else on the training pitch!” said Wildig.

“We have a young squad but there's a lot of talent and potential there. They will all progress at different times and levels throughout the season.

“Once they settle, there is a lot of talent there and hopefully they can kick on for the club.

“Some of them have come from a part-time model and when you go full-time it can be a shock to the system, training every day, having double sessions and the intensity of it.

“I'm trying to be a leader in the team for a young group with some players trying to find their way in the game. I want to help people and be an influence on the pitch with my voice.”

INFLUENTIAL: Aaron Wildig pressing hard for County against Doncaster (Image: Gareth Everett)

The arrival of Jardim certain seems to suit Wildig – “I’ve always tried to knit things together and be neat and tidy” – with the midfielder aiming to score for the fourth game on the spin at Swindon this afternoon (kick-off 12.30pm).

Naturally, he would take a game without a goal or assist if County can record a positive result to bounce back from last weekend’s 4-1 hammering by Port Vale.

"Pretty much everything that could go wrong did go wrong," said Wildig, with Shane McLoughlin lost to injury and centre-backs Ciaran Brennan and Kyle Jameson sent off.

"Looking at the bigger picture, we have started the season okay and we will concentrate on the positives, move forward and progress with a new group of players.

"It was different this summer with the new manager in charge and a lot of new faces. In lower league football you get a lot of change to squads every summer - a lot of clubs turnover a lot of players - and as an experienced player you try to bring the group together.

"We are on nine points from five games with a new and young group, last week everything went wrong but it's about moving forward and righting a lot of wrongs.

"Let's be positive and we need people to stick with us because there will be bumps in the road.

"There will be those down days and there will be more to come but people can see what we are trying to do with the style change in a short period of time. Hopefully there will be more good days than bad.”

Jardim & Co haven’t opted to make drastic changes from the off, preferring to gently introduce their methods in the cut and thrust of League Two.

There is a desire to increase the pass count and possession stats but that requires some problem-solving against opponents keen to exploit errors.

“Teams are going full press and man for man, so it becomes difficult,” admitted Wildig, who has played in a variety of midfield roles.

“We have to find solutions to that and maybe we need to be more aggressive to win the ball higher up the pitch to create our patterns higher up.

“There will be teething problems, there has been big change and hopefully as the season goes on we will have more possession and start stamping our authority on things.”

League Two

Thursday result: Harrogate 2 Doncaster 0

Saturday fixtures: AFC Wimbledon v MK Dons, Swindon v Newport County (both 12.30pm), Accrington v Crewe, Bromley v Notts County, Carlisle v Fleetwood, Gillingham v Tranmere, Grimsby v Barrow, Morecambe v Colchester, Port Vale v Chesterfield, Salford v Cheltenham, Walsall v Bradford.