NEWPORT County AFC manager John Sheridan looks set to ring the changes for Saturday’s League Two trip to Accrington Stanley after accusing his players of making ‘ridiculous’ decisions at Brackley Town.

The Exiles boss didn’t hold back in criticising his charges after they threw away a 2-0 lead at St James Park and allowed the Conference North side to earn an FA Cup first round replay.

Sheridan was unhappy with goalkeeper Joe Day’s part in the Saints’ first goal and with the defending that led to former County player Curtis McDonald's 95th minute equaliser.

“We’re still in the hat but the goals we gave away were diabolical,” said Sheridan, who has named the same starting XI for the past five games.

“The first goal was diabolical. It’s a bad mistake and it just gave them a little bit of belief.

“The second one was a great header from their lad, to be fair, but we’ve got the ball in the corner and five seconds later they end up scoring.

“Just keep the ball next to the corner flag! We’re trying to dribble it out and they score.

“It’s ridiculous what goes through their minds and the decisions we make sometimes.

“I can only shout and tell the players what I think – I can’t make the decisions for the players on the pitch."

And it wasn’t just the goalkeeper and defence that angered Sheridan, who revealed that he withdrew striker Lenell John-Lewis at half-time because he felt the game was won.

“We did what we had to do,” he said. “We were 2-0 up at half-time and I took big John off because I was comfortable with the way we were playing and I never saw any danger of us losing or even getting a draw.

“We kept possession well but we didn’t hurt them and didn’t go for the killer third goal and that’s the biggest downer for me.

“We kept possession but it was just pretty football possession – it was like a testimonial game and it wasn’t the way I wanted us to play.

“No disrespect to Brackley but we should be winning the game.

“They’re a couple of divisions below us and we were 2-0 up and controlling the game. It’ll be difficult in the replay now.”

The 2-2 cup draw did extend County’s unbeaten run to four games following wins at Wycombe Wanderers and Bristol Rovers and last week’s 2-2 home draw with Northampton Town in the league.

That moved Sheridan’s men up to 21st in the table ahead of a tough away fixture at fourth-placed Accrington.