GRAHAM Westley admits he was shocked by how poorly his Newport County AFC side performed on Saturday and he expects them to show their “true character” at Crewe Alexandra next weekend.

County have won only one of the last 20 matches under Westley but the 4-0 home defeat to relegation rivals Leyton Orient was their first defeat by more than one goal since January 7 at Stevenage.

It leaves the Exiles 11 points from safety at the bottom of League Two and the board of directors are meeting this afternoon to discuss Westley’s position.

The Exiles boss faced calls for him to resign after the final whistle against Orient but he is determined to fight on – if he’s given the chance.

“When you’re in professional sport you have to get yourself together for the next job of work and you have to do all you can to make sure that you give yourself the best chance of winning the next game,” he said on Saturday.

“Sport is about momentum. If you get a losing momentum in a camp that can take over. If you get a winning momentum in a camp that can take over too.

“We’ve seen in recent weeks clubs that looked dead and buried and down and out suddenly find something and that little something, wherever it comes from, turns a side that looked down and out into a side that can’t stop winning.

“You look at results [on Saturday] and you’ll see a lot of sides that looked like they didn’t have a win in them posting their second or third on the bounce.

“So it’s up to us to do all we can to work for that little something that can make the big difference.”

He added: “I’ve had a long conversation with the players about ‘Where do we go next?’ “[I asked them] ‘how do we do all we can to help you produce winning performances and not losing performances?’ “That’s the key – we need to make sure that we find the type of momentum that others have found and that we know is possible.”

Westley admitted he was surprised by the performance he described as “abject” but he still believes he can turn things around ahead of the trip to Crewe – if he’s still in charge.

“I was shocked [by the performance], really shocked,” he said.

“When you reflect on it and you start looking for reasons we’ve got a lot of lads who maybe haven’t played a lot of football coming into January who have suddenly played a lot of football and maybe it’s taken a toll on one or two.

“Maybe I’ve got to realise that one or two need a breather, one or two can’t keep it going.

“They got some really good momentum going and we just dropped a little bit and hit a little bit of a brick wall.

“It can happen when players have been out for a long time and they play a lot of football they find it in themselves for a short period of time but they can’t sustain it.

“I’ve got to look at all of the factors that might have created the performance and make sure that next week we come back.

“It’s a game that we have to win,” he added. “We have to win football matches, we know that.

“We’ve got to deal with that in a positive way and not a negative way, but we have to win football matches so next weekend we’ve got to make sure we go up there and we’re ready to go.

“Next weekend is a great opportunity for this squad to show its true character.

“Sometimes character evolves. There may have been people out there today who were mentally weak or lacking in character who grow this week, who take the hit of today and react to it in a positive way.

“We’ve got to make sure that we come back next weekend stronger.”