NEWPORT County AFC boss Nelson Jardim has set in-form captain Aaron Wildig the target of hitting double figures for goals for only the second time in his career.
The 32-year-old midfielder scored his fourth goal of the campaign, all of them in League Two, in Tuesday's 3-1 win against Salford.
Wildig has already matched his total for the last two campaigns at County after scoring 4 in 32 in his first year at Rodney Parade and 4 in 41 games last season.
The experienced midfielder joined from Morecambe where he scored 10 goals in 46 to help win promotion – at the expense of County at Wembley – in 2020/21.
That campaign is, surprisingly, an outlier in the career of a player who makes clever runs and is calm in the box, but Jardim wants that to change.
“I am not surprised,” said the head coach about his skipper’s hot streak. “The year that he got promoted he scored 10 goals and I have told him that his target for this season is to go beyond that.
“I don’t hide from the fact that I like players like Aaron because he is very technical and has the craft for the goal and final-third movement. I could see that straight away.
“He is such an important player for us and an excellent character – I was spot-on when naming him and James Clarke as captains.”
Wildig will continue to have his game time managed after being brought off before the hour against Salford on Tuesday, just three days after suffering a back spasm in the win against Crewe.
He played in the ‘10’ role against the Ammies and has profited from the return to fitness of Bryn Morris, who missed the start of the campaign because of an Achilles injury.
The 28-year-old was an ever-present last season and banged in eight goals but is currently thriving in a deeper role.
“I knew that he was a good player and we are lucky to have him because he works hard and leads by example,” said Jardim.
“Wildig and James Clarke are captains but we also have Bryn, Shane McLoughlin and a lot of others. They are important in leading the youngsters in training as well as on the pitch.
“Bryn is improving and we can see that he is enjoying his football alongside good players who are allowing him to perform like this.
“He helps me to put on the pitch what we want to see and in his position you have to be brave on the ball but also disciplined.
“Bryn brings that to the team and we also have players who can do that but they are young, like Noah and Cameron, and getting a feel for the league and the intensity.”
County will finalise their preparations for Bradford on Sunday and do so in high spirits after back-to-back wins at Rodney Parade.
After a tough September, the Exiles look to be back on track with Jardim pleased to have been able to return to a flat defensive four.
The head coach had switched to a central trio with wing-backs earlier in the campaign in a bid to be more solid.
“I am not attached to any system. As a coach my job is to make sure I get things right and that involves assessing what players I have got and putting everything together,” said Jardim.
“I felt at that moment it was right to go with wing-backs but I don’t like to play with a back five for a lot of reasons, but I won’t reveal them!
“A line of four defenders allows you to do a lot more things looking forward and that’s probably why we haven’t had any draws because it’s a more attacking set-up.”
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