After bowing out of the FA Cup last weekend Town return to league action with a lunchtime trip to Wales to face Newport County.
The game signals the halfway point of the 2021/22 season with Simon Weaver's side sitting in 13th place and five points off the final playoff position.Our opponents
The Exiles, after a mixed start to the season, rebounded towards the end of 2021 to position themselves in the thick of the playoff race.
County of course made it all the way to playoff final last season before suffering late heartbreak against Morecambe at Wembley.
However, they came out this season winning just two of their opening seven games before parting company with Michael Flynn in mid-October.
Since the appointment of James Rowberry the club have made progress, taking 18 points from 11 games.
Heading into Saturday's fixture County are in seventh spot on 35 points, albeit having played two more games than Town.
Earlier this season
After both sides came out on top on home turf a season ago the two sides shared the spoils at the Envirovent Stadium under the lights in mid-September.
Town twice fell behind in the first-half thanks to strikes from Scott Bennett and Robbie Wilmott but hit back both times through Jack Muldoon and Luke Armstrong to see the game end 2-2.
Ones to watch
The key man for the Exiles will undoubtedly be Dom Telford. The forward, signed from Plymouth a year ago, has netted 16 times in the league and averages over a goal a game.
Cameron Norman is an integral figure at the back and the right-sided defender links up well with the attacking play.
On-loan Finn Azaz adds plenty of creativity to the attacking midfield area along with the dynamic Ollie Cooper, who has nine assists on the season so far.
The man in charge
Rowberry will be in the dugout, now settling in to life as Newport County manager after a dozen or so games in charge.
Although he played youth football for both Bristol City and Newport, Rowberry focused on a coaching career and gained his UEFA Pro Licence before the age of 30 and joined the coaching staff at Cardiff City before being handed the reigns at his boyhood club.
History
Initially founded in 1912, County were re-formed in 1989 and worked their way back through the non-league set up to reach the Conference Premier for the 2010/11 season before a further promotion to League Two was earned following the 2012/13 season, where they have remained since.
One of their most famous seasons came back in 1980/81 when they reached the quarter-finals of the European Cup Winners Cup before being defeated by Carl Zeiss Jena 3-2 on aggregate.
County subsequently slipped down the divisions though and found themselves relegated from the Football League in 1987/88 and were declared bankrupt the following season.
Team news
Simon Weaver will have new-signing Leon Legge available for the trip to Rodney Parade as well as having Mark Beck available with the forward sitting out the FA Cup defeat at Luton due to being cup tied.
Alex Pattison returns to the squad, but both Aaron Martin and Simon Power remain on the sidelines. Defenders Will Smith and Ryan Fallowfield will face late checks ahead of the game to determine their fitness.