It's still all to play for as Newport County eye another new year revival, argues Andrew Penman

There is still much to play for. And I’m not just referring to a place in the last-eight of the Leasing.com Trophy, although that in itself is certainly nothing to sniffed at.

County are just three wins away from a potential Wembley final in the much-derided competition and manager Michael Flynn will hopefully pick a team strong enough to give League One strugglers MK Dons a tough test tonight.

The Dons have improved after a slow start under new manager Russell Martin, beating promotion hopefuls Oxford United, Portsmouth and Bristol Rovers over the last month.

And, while County were battling hard at Millwall on Saturday, they enjoyed a much-needed rest having been knocked out of the FA Cup in November.

But Flynn’s men will fancy their chances of a minor upset tonight and Exiles academy graduate Regan Poole and his Dons teammates will not be relishing the trip to Rodney Parade.

After that, it’s back to the bread and butter (or vegan alternative) of League Two.

It has been a miserable few months for County in the league with just four points collected from the last 30 available.

Unbelievably, they haven’t earned all three points since beating Scunthorpe United at home on October 19.

The visit to Scunthorpe this coming Saturday would be the perfect time for the Exiles to get back to winning ways and start making some ground up on the teams above them.

That 2-1 win over The Iron in October, thanks to goals from Padraig Amond and Josh Sheehan, left County third in the table with 26 points from 13 games.

They are now 15th with 30 from 23 but, admittedly building from a low base, there have been definite signs of progress over the past two league games – 1-1 home draws against Leyton Orient and Cheltenham Town.

The first, on December 29, saw County recover from conceding after just 60 seconds and create enough chance to win the game but they had to settle for a point thanks to Amond’s late leveller.

The second, on New Year’s Day saw a role reversal as Flynn’s men took the lead thanks to Tristan Abrahams and then waste several opportunities to double their advantage before being pegged back four minutes from time.

Scoring goals has been a problem all season, even early on when results were positive.

County have netted just 21 times in 23 league games and it was there were familiar regrets at chances going begging at The Den on Saturday.

It’s no surprise then that Flynn is targeting a goalscorer in this month’s transfer window, even though Abrahams has nine so far in all competitions and Amond 10 and both could conceivably get to the magic 20-goal target before the end of the season.

The rest of the squad have not contributed anywhere near enough with Jamille Matt (above), who scored 20 last season, only on three so far this season alongside Joss Labadie and the now departed Taylor Maloney, while the otherwise excellent Josh Sheehan has found the net just once.

With Maloney going back to Charlton, it’s likely that we will see at least one and maybe two midfielders brought in this month to create more chances for the forwards.

The return from injury of Robbie Willmott and Corey Whitely and the emergence of academy product Lewis Collins should also help in that department.

Yesterday’s disappointing news that Danny McNamara has been recalled by Millwall also means that a right-back will almost certainly be on Flynn’s shopping list.

The decision to play Scot Bennett on the right at The Den suggests that the manager feels youngster Dom Jefferies is not quite ready to be a first-team regular just yet, while summer signing Dan Leadbitter is still a few weeks away from a return from injury.

The next few weeks on and off the pitch will determine how the rest of the campaign pans out for the Exiles.

If they can pick up a few wins and get the recruitment right then things will be looking a lot brighter by the end of the month.

And let’s not forget that County now have three games in hand over many of the clubs above them.

With 23 games to go and 69 points to play for, the Exiles are only at the halfway point in League Two.

And, as last season proved, it’s never wise to write off Michael Flynn and Newport County.

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