LAMAR Reynolds hopes his man-of-the-match performance against Cheltenham Town will earn him a League Two start tomorrow night.

Reynolds was the standout player on Tuesday night as an experimental Newport County AFC side went down to a 2-1 defeat to Cheltenham Town in the Checkatrade Trophy.

The 22-year-old created numerous chances for strikers Marlon Jackson and Joe Quigley before scoring his first goal in professional football in the second half.

And he’s now targeting a first start in League Two since the opening day of the season at Stevenage.

That could even come against Port Vale at Rodney Parade tomorrow night (kick-off 7.45pm) with a number of County players doubtful due to injury and illness.

“I’m delighted to get the goal and the man of the match award,” said Reynolds.

“The manager was very happy with me. He told me he was delighted and that it was probably my best performance of the season.

“Obviously I have to push on from that,” he added.

“My main target now is to break back into the starting line-up so hopefully I can do that on Friday – that would be big for me.

“The goal will definitely be in the back of the manager’s head but there is obviously a lot of competition with everyone doing well at the moment so he has a big decision to make.

“If I play like I did [on Tuesday] then hopefully I’ll get a sniff of the starting line-up.”

South Wales Argus:

Reynolds was urged on from the touchline by Exiles boss Michael Flynn throughout Tuesday’s Trophy tie and the player is happy to listen to his manager’s advice.

“It works,” he said with a smile. “It got me the goal so I can’t complain.”

Asked about Reynolds’ performance against the Robins, Flynn said: “He’s just got to listen because I know I can make him a better player.

“I don’t mean that in an arrogant way; I just know that, with the speed he’s got and his good footwork, if he sticks to the basics he’s almost unplayable at times.

“He’ll be involved on Friday.”

Reynolds is still learning the game but he is at least five years older than five of his teammates on Tuesday.

Academy prospects Jay Foulston, Tom Hillman, Lewis Collins and Evan Press were all named in the starting XI, while Owen Taylor also made an appearance off the bench.

“I thought they did really well,” said Reynolds. “It’s their first time starting in a professional game and, especially playing against a pretty strong side, I thought they all did well.

“They took everything on board and stood up to a physical side.

“For them it was a big game and a good learning curve.

“I feel like we should have got a bit more from the game but we were the better side so we’re happy with the performance.”