Match Preview: Newport County v Brentford

During Brentford’s rise up the divisions to the Premier League, where they now aim to become part of the furniture, they have had some joy in England's second cup competition: reaching the semi-final in 2021 and then the quarter-final in 2022.

However, first-round exits to Oxford United and Exeter City, as well as penalty shootout defeats to Cambridge United and Gillingham in the not-too-distant past, will give their League Two opposition hope of an upset.

Newport reached the League Two play-off final in 2021, losing to Morecambe in extra-time, and since then the Welsh club have recorded back-to-back mid-table finishes in the fourth tier as they continue to punch above their financial weight.

With former Bristol Rovers manager Graham Coughlin in charge, the Exiles currently adopt a similar identity to the one that brought them relative success - and some magical cup runs - under Michael Flynn in the recent past.

A direct and aggressive style of football has brought results so far this season, with the Exiles in the play-off positions after a positive start to the season that has yielded three wins and two defeats.

The early season stats in League Two show that Brentford will need to flex their muscles in the air at Rodney Park if they are to progress to the third round.

With an average pass completion rate of just 55 per cent, a quarter of all Newport's passes this season have gone long and their game places an undoubted emphasis and importance on winning their aerial duels, a metric in which they rank fourth in League Two with 31.6 aerial duels won per game this season.

The percentage game appears to apply to the Exiles' approach in offensive areas and they have shown a clear proficiency in getting their shots off. Despite averaging just over 40 per cent possession this season, Newport have still managed to record the seventh most shots (70) in League Two with the fourth most on target (26). So, 37 per cent of their efforts at goal have troubled the goalkeeper.

The intent to play as directly as possible is not only evident in their passing and possession stats but also by the fact they have attempted the fewest dribbles (47) in the division this term and completed only 13 of these, the fewest in the division.

With Brentford's clear strengths in the air and ability to play a very effective brand of quick, direct football, the Bees seem to match up well with the Welsh side ahead of the contest.

That said, this is cup football and Brentford will need to be on their game against a side who have more than mixed it against top-flight opposition in recent times.

Newport County have been a constant fixture in League Two for the past decade, having worked their way back into the EFL following the reformation of the club in the summer of 1989.

As they found their way again, they avoided relegation back to the National League twice in consecutive years – 2015/16 and 2016/17 – but it was under the guidance of Michael Flynn that they really kicked on to become one of the division’s underdogs.

In 2017/18, his first season in charge of his hometown club – where he spent four separate spells as a player – Flynn’s side beat Leeds United in the FA Cup third round and earned a replay against Tottenham Hotspur in the next round, which took the club to Wembley, where Spurs were playing while their new stadium was under construction.

The next year, they reached the League Two play-off final, where they were beaten in extra-time by Tranmere Rovers and in 2020/21, they got there again, only to be dealt a 107th-minute sucker-punch by Morecambe.

Flynn opted to resign a matter of months into the 2021/22 campaign. “I would like to thank Newport County AFC for giving me the opportunity of my first managerial post, but, with sadness, I feel it is the right time to step down,” he said in a statement.

Under caretaker Wayne Hatswell and later James Rowberry, County finished the season in 11th place, without the drama of cup runs that had been synonymous with Flynn’s reign. They finished 15th last term – their lowest placing since 2016/17 - with further changes in the dugout, as Graham Coughlan was installed to replace Rowberry after a poor start.

Now, in his first summer in the job, Coughlan has started to mould the team to his vision. As Newport reporter Chris Kirwan references, the departures of Cameron Norman to MK Dons, Aaron Lewis to Mansfield Town, Mickey Demetriou to Crewe Alexandra and Priestley Farquharson to Walsall initiated something of a rebuild.

No fewer than 11 players have been recruited so far – seven permanently, with four more arriving on loan – and, as a result, County’s start to the season has been, perhaps understandably, mixed.

They have fallen to comprehensive defeats to Accrington Stanley and Crewe, but also turned in complete performances by beating Doncaster Rovers 4-0, Forest Green Rovers 3-0 and Sutton United 3-1. Add the 3-1 win over League One Charlton Athletic in the previous round of the Carabao Cup to the mix and it has been largely positive overall.

Speaking after the victory at Forest Green, Coughlan said: “It was the perfect response, but I don’t want to be frustrated one week and feeling high the next. I’d like a bit of consistency and a level of performance we can rely on.”

If history is anything to go by, Newport are a club capable of challenging in the higher reaches of League Two, and a positive cup run is surely something they will be targeting in order to build momentum.

Graham Coughlan first made a name for himself in England when he signed for Plymouth Argyle from Livingston in 2001, making just shy of 200 appearances for the Pilgrims over a hugely successful four-season spell that saw the club promoted from the Third Division in 2001/02 and the Second Division in 2003/04.

The Irishman joined Sheffield Wednesday in 2005, before spells at Burnley, Rotherham United and Shrewsbury Town followed a return south to Southend United in 2010, where he combined playing duties with the role of reserve-team manager.

He retired in June 2013, taking up the role of first-team coach at Roots Hall - a job he remained in for a further five years – until he moved on to become Bristol Rovers’ defensive coach and, in December 2018, the caretaker manager at the Memorial Stadium. A solid start led to him taking the job on a permanent basis the following month.

Less than a year later, he was approached by Mansfield, whom he took charge of in December 2019.

However, he won just four of his 27 games in charge of the Stags and was sacked in October 2020, with the club third bottom of League Two after zero wins from the first nine games of the 2020/21 campaign.

Next came a spell coaching Sheffield United’s U23s - which came about after Paul Heckingbottom stepped up to lead the first team, following Chris Wilder’s departure – though that lasted a matter of months and it was not until October 2022 that he found himself back in the hotseat at an EFL club.

James Rowberry left Newport after a worrying start to his second season in charge of his hometown club, with Coughlan handed a two-and-a-half-year deal to replace him at Rodney Parade.

County lost just three of his first 17 league games in charge on the way to a 15th-place finish, 14 points clear of the relegation zone.

Chris Kirwan, sports writer for the South Wales Argus, explains how Newport are likely to set up at Rodney Parade on Tuesday night:

“Traditionally it has been a 3-5-2, but [Graham Coughlan] has gone with a back four during games this season and has changed it up, so I think there will be an element of horses for courses.

“He loaded midfield against Charlton in the first round because he knew that, man for man, they were better, so I would not be surprised if he did something similar against Brentford, with one up top.”

Read the full interview with Chris Kirwan here.

EFL referee Scott Oldham will be the man in the middle at Rodney Parade.

Oldham officiated 37 fixtures last term, showing 122 yellow cards and two reds.

In the three games that Oldham has taken charge of this term, he has produced 17 yellow cards.

Brentford’s run in the 2022/23 Carabao Cup was ended by Gillingham, with the Gills emerging victorious 6-5 on penalties following a 1-1 draw in normal time.

Ivan Toney gave Brentford the perfect start with a goal inside three minutes against the Sky Bet League Two side but for all the Bees’ domination they couldn’t find a second against a well-organised Gillingham outfit.

And with 15 minutes to play, the away side struck with their only shot of the night: substitute Mikael Mandron heading home Alex MacDonald’s teasing cross.

The Gills withstood late pressure to take the game to spot-kicks.

The first 11 were all scored before Mikkel Damsgaard saw his effort rebound off the bar to spark wild scenes of celebration in the away end.