NEWPORT County chairman Chris Blight admits the Exiles have held preliminary discussions on the possibility of staging games at Rodney Parade this season, but he adds that such a move would be “a logistical nightmare”.

The County chairman was keen to set the record straight after reports that the Exiles were ready to ditch Spytty Park for the home of Newport Gwent Dragons and Newport RFC.

That is wide of the mark but Blight explained that: l The County board have become “embarrassed” about the Spytty Park pitch, considered by other clubs to be “the worst” in the Conference l County have approached the powerbrokers at Rodney Parade about staging “one or two games”.

l Justin Edinburgh will be visiting Rodney Parade to assess the facilities l Cwmbran Stadium is not an option for County l Twerton Park or Nene Park could be options l The board estimate the loss of the Boxing Day game with Bath because of an unplayable pitch cost County around £13,000.

In a candid interview with the Argus, the exasperated chairman explained: “Any suggestions in the media that we are ditching Spytty Park for Rodney Parade are wide of the mark and, frankly, ridiculous.

“The truth is that we have made enquiries about potentially staging one or two games there if we have continued weather issues affecting our pitch.

“We are only tenants at Spytty Park and it is not our responsibility to get to the root of the problem.

“Our pitch was like a sponge on Tuesday night and we are gaining a reputation for having the worst playing surface in the division, which is obviously an embarrassment.

“Therefore, considering we are potentially going to have a fixture backlog, we felt it was prudent to at least investigate alternatives, if needed, for one or two games this season.

“We would be loathe to leave the area as we need every supporter we can possibly get, and as Cwmbran Stadium is not an option, Rodney Parade was an obvious port of call.

“In principle, neither Newport RFC, the Conference or Gwent Police are against us being forced to play a couple of games at Rodney Parade, but with Newport and the Dragons already playing there, we have been warned it will be a logistical nightmare.”

Blight is hopeful no such move will be necessary.

“If we had to move games and couldn’t use Rodney Parade, that probably means going over the border, which would be a nightmare in terms of lost revenue,” he said.

“But something must be done about the drainage issue at Spytty Park because it is costing the club money and points in my opinion.

“We estimate we lost around £13,000 by not being able to stage the Boxing Day clash with Bath and that is not a situation we wish to continue with. At this stage we are not ruling anything out but the hope is that Spytty Park will be fit for purpose for the remainder of the campaign.”

l County have rearranged their home clash with Braintree for Tuesday, March 6, and the away clash at Cambridge United for Tuesday, March 20.