NEWPORT County midfielder Max Porter is desperate to remain at Rodney Parade.

The former AFC Wimbledon man scored County’s vital equaliser at high-flying Chesterfield on Saturday, his first goal for Newport in 14 months.

And after revealing to the Argus in January that he worried he’d have to retire from his persistent groin problem, Porter is hoping that now he’s injury free, he’ll be given another chance at Rodney Parade.

"My contract is up at the end of the season and of course I want to stay on, I am sure all the boys do,” he told the Argus.

"It's my livelihood, I have moved to the area and I love living here and want to stay at Newport County.

"I've had great times here and bad times here, but I feel I can offer a lot.

"I didn't have a pre-season last year but this summer hopefully I can get raring to go this time around.”

Porter also revealed he couldn’t have scored his fine goal, earlier in the campaign.

“It was nice to get a goal and a result and hopefully we can get another one against Plymouth,” he said.

"But it is not enough for me, I want to get fitter, I want to get more match sharpness and to play better because prior to the injury I felt I was playing the best football of my career during our rise up the Conference.

"It will take time, I've missed a lot of football and I want to do more.

"But I can trust my body now, with my groin, definitely.

"At the start of the season, if Flynny has rolled the ball back to me like he did for the goal, I wouldn't have gone for the shot, I would've been scared.

"I remember in the game earlier in the season at Northampton, I had a very similar position with a pull-back and I went to strike it and I stopped myself, because I didn't trust my body and that is the difference now.

"I don't have any pain anymore, every day is a big of a slog going through the routine I've got now, which I will have to do for the rest of my career, but it is so much better, because I get to play football again.”

"I was a bit miserable when I couldn't play, to say the least.

"People don't realise it, but it does hurt, your belief in yourself and your confidence suffers when you are out for so long. You watch from the sidelines and you think 'can I still do that?' And when you are struggling to get out of bed after a surgery, you think 'can I still play football?'