NEWPORT County AFC defender David Pipe is taking nothing for granted ahead of Saturday’s clash with struggling Morecambe at Rodney Parade.

Morecambe are 20th in the League Two table, three points above the relegation zone, having won just four of their first 15 games.

But County have only won two of the 10 meetings between the sides since they won promotion from the Conference in 2013 and both of those victories came in Morecambe.

The Shrimps have won three and drawn two of their five visits to Newport over the past five years and Pipe is expecting a difficult encounter.

He told iFollow Exiles: “It’ll be a very tough game. They are quite similar to us in that they’ve got a lot of individuals who know exactly how to win football matches.

“They can go away from home and grind out results, be horrible and they definitely won’t be an easy rollover.

“We’ve got to turn up, be on our game and hopefully we can turn a point at Bury into four points from two games.”

One man who has been a thorn in County’s side time and again is Morecambe’s veteran striker Kevin Ellison.

The 39-year-old has scored five goals against the Exiles, including a brace in last season’s 2-1 win at the Globe Arena, and also won three penalties.

But Pipe is ready for all Ellison can throw at him this weekend.

“Kevin Ellison will always get a mention,” he said. “I’ve probably played against him 20 times in my career and I’d say he’s a taller version of myself.

“He’s a bit of a pest on the pitch but a very effective player and full credit to him for doing what he’s doing at his age.

“He’s a bit like myself where you keep defying people, keep going and going and that’s not easy to do as a professional.

“That’s a credit to him and I’ll be trying to wind him up as much as he’ll try to wind us up – don’t worry about that.”