“THAT’S not a Graham Westley side,” was the verdict of the seasoned Stevenage-watchers in the press box at the Lamex Stadium.

Westley had three spells in charge of Boro over 12 years and is still held in high regard by the club’s fans and the journalists who covered his successes in Hertfordshire.

But, after a run of seven games without defeat in October and November, this eighth successive defeat in League Two made it 10 without a win in all competitions for his Newport County AFC side.

The Exiles have been stuck on 17 points since their superb 3-0 win at Notts County on November 19.

And it’s only a staggering run of 10 straight defeats for the Magpies that means Westley’s men are still just five points from safety with a game in hand.

We have only just entered the second half of the season so there is still time for the manager to turn things round.

January has so far seen six new arrivals and there will be more to come.

But all six featured on Saturday and there was no instant impact.

The new-look defence looked all at sea as Steve Schumacher and Tyler Walker combined to play in Matt Godden for the first of his three goals on nine minutes.

The crucial second was the result of a big mistake from goalkeeper Joe Day just before the break and the third came from the penalty spot after a clumsy challenge from the otherwise-impressive substitute Dan Butler.

The contest was settled on 62 minutes but the way his side battled in the final half-hour, capped by Butler’s 89th-minute goal, was enough for Westley to describe it as a “positive afternoon” for the Exiles.

Not many fans would agree with the manager on that one but he insists there were encouraging signs.

“I saw a lot of ingredients out there that pleased me,” said Westley.

“We showed great character and I know that there’s some good lads out there now and the right ingredients in there.

“There’s a bit more pace in the back line, which is always handy.

“There’s a little bit more of a defensive mentality within the squad and you could see that starting to come through.

“There’s one or two of them in the middle of the park starting to find their form and up front we’ve added to it and we’re going be more dangerous going forward.

“There were a couple of organisational errors that you would expect when you bring a lot of lads in.

“But it’s been a big week – a few more additions, we’ve strengthened the squad and we feel good about our chances of winning games on a consistent basis going forward.”

Westley expects the supporters to be patient with the new signings and he believes that patience will be rewarded.

“I’m sure that our fans, like most football fans, are smart enough to know that when you bring the number of players together that we have there’s always a short-term risk,” he said.

“But you’ve got to take the short-term risk for the long-term gain.

“The long-term gain is getting terrific, good, young and experienced players to blend on the pitch. The long-term benefit of that is obvious.

“It would have disappointed me had we not done what we did in the second half.

“That’s more like what I expect from a side of mine – a bit of fight, a bit of passion, a bit of quality, dominating possession going forward and looking like it can go and score goals.”

With 22 games still to play and 66 points up for grabs there is still time for County to avoid relegation.

But those encouraging signs that Westley saw on Saturday need to be converted into points on the board sooner rather than later before his side find themselves cut adrift at the bottom.

County: Day; Pipe, O’Brien, Nelson, Bennett; Barnum-Bobb (Reid, 71), Randall, Tozer, Myrie-Williams (Butler, 3); Gordon (Jackson, 55), Williams

Subs not used: Bittner, Meite, Wood, Owen-Evans

Booked: Bennett, Nelson

Referee: Rob Lewis

Attendance: 2,185