Newport County AFC vs Crewe Alexandra; Sky Bet League Two
Newport County AFC vs Crewe Alexandra. Sky Bet League Two.
Rodney ParadeAttendance4,638.
Newport County AFC 1
- M Demetriou (81st minute)
Crewe Alexandra 2
- H McKirdy (26th minute)
- J Bowery (60th minute)
Newport v Crewe preview
Friday 23 March 2018 10:44, UK
Newport will complete their Sky Bet League Two campaign without injured captain Joss Labadie.
Labadie suffered a serious knee injury in training ahead of of last weekend's home clash against promotion-chasing Luton and will not play again this season. He is due to undergo surgery early next week.
County are back at Rodney Parade on Saturday for the visit of Crewe, with manager Michael Flynn hoping striker Paul Hayes will be available again after recovering from a tight calf muscle. But defender Calaum Jahraldo-Martin is unavailable as he is away on international duty with Antigua and Barbuda.
Crewe boss David Artell appears to have a couple of injury concerns for the trip to south Wales. Ross Woodcock, Chris Porter and Ryan Wintle are definite absentees, although striker Chris Dagnall could make the starting line-up after continuing his comeback from knee trouble by making a substitute appearance during the 3-1 midweek win against Forest Green.
James Jones, meanwhile, is likely to be involved in the match-day group following a pelvic injury, but full-backs Jamie Sterry and Zoumana Bakayogo could face fitness tests after missing the Rovers game with knocks. The Railwaymen are currently 19th in the table but nine points above the relegation zone.
Opta stats
Newport haven't beaten Crewe at home since March 1978, drawing two and losing two since then.
The Railwaymen have not kept a clean sheet in their last 10 league matches against Newport, a run stretching back to September 1977.
The Exiles have won just one of their last 11 games in all competitions (D6 L4), scoring just nine times whilst failing to find the net in five of those matches.
Crewe have avoided defeat in back-to-back away league games for the first time since a run of three consecutive away victories in March 2017, almost exactly a year ago.
Paul Hayes has netted three goals in his first two starts for Newport County. It's the first time he's scored in back-to-back league appearances since November 2014 for Wycombe (three in a row, excluding play-offs).
