Newport County star wants 'statement win' over Plymouth Argyle

County have drawn their first two league games against Mansfield Town and Cambridge United and, after a penalty shootout win over League One Gillingham in the Carabao Cup, they are looking to secure a first three points of the season.

And Matt believes a win over the Pilgrims will really kick-start the Exiles’ campaign.

“Plymouth have obviously started well and the size of the club makes them one of the favourites to win the league,” said the 29-year-old, who had a successful loan spell at Home Park in 2016.

“But we fancy ourselves, as we do against most teams in this league.

“We’re a good team ourselves, so we’ve got to believe in ourselves and go out there and get a result.

“It will be a statement to beat them,” he added. “They are one of the favourites in the league.

“We feel like we should have more points on the board, but if we get three points this weekend then it looks like three good results to kick off the league campaign.”

More than 1,000 Argyle fans will be in Newport and Matt is hoping for a bumper home crowd at Rodney Parade.

“They’ve got good support and hopefully we’ll have a big turnout as well to make it a great atmosphere,” he said.

“We normally get a good amount at home and they back us.

“Opposition players say the atmosphere is quite intimidating when they come to Newport.

“And the more fans we get will help us make Rodney Parade a fortress like it was last year.”

The County players have enjoyed having former Swansea City and Manchester City striker Wilfried Bony training with them this week and Matt feels he has benefitted from the experience.

“It’s been brilliant,” he said. “He’s obviously someone we’ve all watched in the Premier League and someone you look up to as a striker.

“We knew how good he is and he hasn’t disappointed. His attitude’s been first class. He spent about half an hour after training the other day speaking to the lads and just trying to pass on a bit of knowledge.

“It was almost like a little motivational talk. It was brilliant.

“It’s great for me as a striker to learn from someone who’s played at the top level and can still play at the top level.

“I think you can always learn,” he added. “I’ve not played at that level so I’d be stupid to think that I couldn’t learn from him.

“You’ve always got to have ambitions to play at a higher level so you’ve got to try to learn from someone who’s been there and done it.

“One of the things he stressed was to stick to your strengths. You’ve got to work on your weaknesses, but make sure the strongest parts of your game are as strong as they can be.

“That stuck with me and it’s something that I’ll take forward.”