DEFENDER Dan Sweeney has pledged that Forest Green Rovers will "throw everything" at Newport County AFC in their bid for a League Two play-off comeback.

The Exiles are in command of the semi-final thanks to a 2-0 win at Rodney Parade on Tuesday.

However, Michael Flynn's side missed chances to head to Gloucestershire with an even bigger advantage.

Sweeney hopes that an early goal can help Rovers turn the tide at the New Lawn on Sunday (kick-off 6.30pm).

"We have nothing to lose, we are 2-0 down and will throw everything at it and see what happens," said the 27-year-old, who signed from Barnet last summer.

"If we get the first goal then anything can happen. I am more than confident of the quality that we possess in that changing room. There is no reason why we can't win that game."

Forest Greens Dan Sweeney

Forest Green's Dan Sweeney

Sweeney returned after three months out as a second-half substitute at Rodney Parade, making a comeback along with former County striker Jamille Matt and midfielder Nicky Cadden.

There was frustration in the Rovers camp that they failed to hit the standards set in the run-in, when they rallied to salvage a spot in the play-offs.

"We were very disappointed with the way that we played, we came away from what we did in the last six games," said Sweeney.

"We let ourselves down in the first half, we were better in the second half and we've just got to go again on Sunday, and we will.

"We need to get back to what we were doing in the last six games, we have been positive going forward and have created a lot of chances.

"On Tuesday, for whatever reason, we went away from that. The positive is that we've got a few boys back from injury and hopefully we can take advantage of that on Sunday."

Meanwhile, a coach in the Women's Super League was a standout candidate to become the first female boss in the men's game at Forest Green – until it emerged her CV had been put forward without her knowledge.

None of the final five people – from around 100 applicants – ultimately shortlisted for interview were women, although the club were convinced at one stage there was a standout female candidate.

"The woman that we really liked for the job dropped out, or in fact was never quite in," said owner and chairman Dale Vince.

"It's an amusing story. When we got in contact it turned out she hadn't sent the CV in herself and her agent hadn't either. Somebody else had sent the CV in and she's not ready to leave the job she's in."

Jimmy Ball is in charge until the end of the play-offs.