NEWPORT County AFC captain Mickey Demetriou is aiming to inflict more misery on Crawley Town today as the Exiles target another away win to keep them in the automatic promotion places in League Two.

Demetriou has scored four goals in his last three games against Crawley, helping Michael Flynn’s men to three successive wins over the Reds.

The centre-back scored a spectacular long-range winner against the Sussex side at Rodney Parade in April 2017 – a vital victory on the way to the Great Escape from relegation.

He then headed in both goals in a 2-1 win at the Checkatrade.com Stadium in September last year and also netted a penalty in another 2-1 victory in Newport in January.

“I’ve not done too badly against Crawley and hopefully that will continue,” said the 28-year-old.

“They’re a tough squad and we’ve never had an easy game against them.

“The new manager has gone in there and they’ve picked up a few results so I’m sure that they’ll give us a tough game.”

Demetriou missed a penalty in the Exiles’ last match on the road – a 1-1 draw at Forest Green Rovers a fortnight ago – but he will be on spot-kick duties again at Crawley if he’s required.

“I’m still on pens at the moment,” he said. “The last one wasn’t a good one but the four before that were OK.

“Obviously I didn’t mean to miss, and the lads have been good. They’ve all said that they won’t take it off me, so it was nice to have that backing.

“If they said they didn’t trust me taking them then I would have had to relinquish it, but they’ve all backed me.

“Everyone misses penalties but the ones I’ve scored have been important and hopefully the next one goes in.”

They may have been supportive over his penalty miss but Demetriou, who is standing in for injured skipper Andrew Crofts, has had some ribbing over his poor team talks.

“I’m not used to doing it in the huddle before games and sometimes I mess up, which gives the lads a laugh, but they’re getting better,” he admitted.

“During the game I talk a lot as well, even when I’m not captain.

“We’ve got so many leaders in the squad. I’ve got the armband on but we’ve got seven or eight different captains out there on the pitch, which obviously makes it easier.

“That’s why we’re doing so well. We’re very experienced and thankfully it’s working at the moment.”

Demetriou believes that team spirit will stand them in good stead as the season progresses.

“It’s about consistency,” he added. “I think this is maybe where we dropped a few points last year so hopefully this year we stay a bit more consistent and stay in the pack.

“We have set targets for Christmas, February and for the end of the season and hopefully we’ll be where we want to be."