NEWPORT County AFC manager Graham Westley believes his side can win today but he admits that’s not always been the case over the past few months.

County have gone nine games without a win in all competitions and have lost their last seven in the league.

But Westley feels the new signings he has made this week can see League Two’s bottom club triumph at Stevenage this afternoon.

Asked if he could keep the Exiles up, the manager replied: "I think we can win on Saturday, and that’s as far as I ever really look.

“There’s been games that I’ve gone into where, I have to admit, I’ve been dubious about our ability to win in my heart.

“Dubious because the ingredients that we’re putting on the pitch I know aren’t quite right and it’s going to be luck rather than judgment that’s going to win the game if we get the points.

“But when you get more of the right ingredients and those lads learn about each other and the challenge I’ll be increasingly confident that we can win every three points in front of us.

“There are no easy trips in this league and there’s no easy games at home either.

“It’s about getting yourself right on the day and producing the result.

“And we’ve already shown on the day that with a little bit of fortune we can beat the likes of Carlisle.

“We can beat anyone on our day and with three wins the table looks different.”

County are five points from safety with a game in hand before today’s fixtures but Westley rejected the suggestion that they are ‘desperate’ for a win.

“The situation is long-term unhealthy – 50 games unhealthy,” he said. “We’ve lost a lot of games, irrespective of who’s been in charge.

“I’ve been in a lot of changing rooms where the lads get themselves together and out of self-pride pull themselves together to win football matches because they don’t want to keep losing.

“We’ve lost too many games at this football club and things need to change.

“We’re at the point where things need to change and I’m starting to take very calculated, very deliberate action to improve our fortune.

“I’m not doing that with any sense of desperation, I’m doing it with clinicality.

“I know what we need and I’m going out there are getting it.”