Forest Green Rovers vs Newport County AFC. Sky Bet League Two.
The New LawnAttendance3,081.
Friday 5 October 2018 12:17, UK
Forest Green expect central defender Farrend Rawson to be fit for the visit of Newport.
Rawson was forced off in the closing stages of Tuesday's 3-1 win at Cambridge after suffering a nasty cut on his Achilles. Liam Shepherd should also recover from some bruising to start and Rovers have no new injury problems to report.
Rovers remain unbeaten in Sky Bet League Two this season but are two positions and four points adrift of third-placed Newport.
County are without the ineligible Charlie Cooper as manager Mike Flynn aims to avoid the manager of the month curse after winning the September award. Cooper, son of Forest Green boss Mark, can not play against his parent club under the terms of his season-long deal.
Robbie Willmott could be a direct replacement for Cooper in midfield as he returns from suspension, but defender Mark O'Brien still out with a hamstring injury. Matty Dolan hopes to overcome a knee problem, but it will probably be too soon for Andrew Crofts (Achilles).
The two league meetings between Forest Green Rovers and Newport County last season saw a combined total of 10 goals (five per game), with this exact fixture ending in a 4-0 Newport win, their biggest victory of 2017-18.
This will be the third meeting between Forest Green and Newport at the New Lawn in all competitions since the start of last season, with the Rovers winning 2-0 in an EFL Trophy clash in August 2017 before losing 4-0 in League Two in October 2017.
Forest Green Rovers remain the only unbeaten side in League Two (P11 W4 D7 L0), conceding no more than a single goal in any of their games so far this season (nine in total).
Newport have lost just one of their last 10 League Two matches (W7 D2), however that defeat was a 6-0 home drubbing from Yeovil - their biggest ever home defeat in the Football League.
Only Lincoln City and Colchester (10 each) have had more different goalscorers in League Two so far this season than Newport (nine).
I don't think too many would have put these two in the top six by October at the start of the season, but that's both where they find themselves at this moment. Forest Green are still unbeaten but they are four points behind Newport in third.
County drew in midweek but a small gap has opened between the top three and the rest, and they'll hope to make that a little bit bigger with victory at The New Lawn. But I think this one will be a draw.
David Prutton predicts: 1-1 (5/1 with Sky Bet)
