Newport County v. Bolton

It is the preseason that never ends. We’ve had a game roughly every 3 days since the 14th of July and today we continue that as we face Welsh side Newport County. The Exiles compete in the Conference National, effectively the fifth tier of the English system. They haven’t been in the Football League since 1988, when they ended their 68 year stay. In 1989 they went bankrupt, and while they reformed in June of that year, they still have not regained league status. Their manager Anthony Hudson was only appoint in April of this year, and as such is still getting to know his team. Owen Coyle should look to use this to test out his new boys, especially Chris Eagles and his versatility.

Newport themselves have a new player to try out, as they’ve just signed winger Felino Jardim. Hudson has classified this match as their “toughest game”, probably for the last decade though he didn’t say that. I’d like to see how Pratley and Reo-Coker work together in midfield, and see Eagles at forward as that’s one of our most desperate positions. It will be interesting to see what Coyle does, as this is certainly the lowest team we’ve played this preseason and will give him a lot of room to experiment. COYWM

Category: Previews