STRIKER Frank Nouble admits he has to prove himself at Newport County AFC if he’s to play at a higher level once again.

The 25-year-old, who started out in the youth ranks at Chelsea before moving on to Premier League rivals West Ham United, joined League Two County last month.

The Exiles are the 15th team of Nouble’s senior career, which has included brief spells at Swansea City, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Coventry City.

A Chinese adventure was followed by stints at Gillingham and Southend United last season but the goals have not flowed for the Londoner of Ivorian descent.

And he knows he needs to hit the ground running with the Exiles if he is to climb the Football League pyramid once again.

“Everyone wants to play at the highest level, with your club or individually,” said Nouble.

“But, it doesn’t matter where you are, you have to prove yourself first.

“Whether I’m in League Two, the Conference or the Championship, I’ve always got to prove myself and that’s my biggest challenge to myself first.

“The manager has brought me in so I can bring my qualities and help the team and if I can do that, which I’m obviously telling myself I am going to do, I look forward to it.”

Nouble followed County’s Great Escape from relegation at the end of last season and he believes the team can build on that momentum when the new campaign begins on August 5.

“I watched the final day on TV and I knew they needed to win a lot of games to stay up,” he said.

“There was a lot of drama in the last six months here but they did it and it’s in the history books now.

“And we can use that for the new season. Momentum is very important in team sport.

“The boys are settled, they all know each other quite well and it’s been easy for me to come in.

“It’s a big plus because there are other teams in turmoil at the moment with not many players in the squad.

“The manager is trying to bring in a few more but we’ve got a good settled squad here and that’s a big positive.

“Every team will probably look at us as underdogs, which is good,” he added.

“I think that is a good position to be in and hopefully we can surprise a few.”

And, despite making no secret of his personal ambitions, Nouble says he would be happy to stay beyond his one-year contract if things go well with County.

“I want to settle down,” he said. “I’ve only signed here for a year but that means nothing. It’s just about getting in and doing well.

“And if I’m doing well wherever I am I’ll probably stay longer.

“You never know what scenarios are going to come up at any club.

“But these are definitely the prime years of my life so I want to be at my best and look back at the end of the season thinking I’ve done really well.”