Rovers return to The Fully Charged New Lawn this Saturday after two away games on the spin to take on an in form Newport County.

Here’s the lowdown on the Exiles ahead of the rearranged clash.

MEET THE MANAGER: JAMES ROWBERRY

County manager James Rowberry retired from the playing side of the game at the young age of 21 to focus solely on coaching after playing youth football for Bristol City and Newport.

Upon gaining his UEFA Pro License he worked with the Exiles for four years, before moving to Cardiff City.

The 36 year old gained valuable coaching experience under the likes of Russell Slade, Neil Warnock and Mick McCarthy during his time in the Welsh capital.

Rowberry entered his first managerial role back in October at Rodney Parade after 8 years with the Bluebirds, signing a contract until 2024.

He has enjoyed a successful start to his managing career, holding a 53% win rate through his first 17 games in charge.

KEY PLAYER: DOMINIC TELFORD

League Two top scorer Dom Telford signed for Newport back in January 2021 and has enjoyed an extremely successful year with the Exiles.

Beginning his football with Blackpool aged 17, Telford made his professional debut in 2014 and scored his first goal against Rotherham United just days before the turn of that year.

The striker went on to join Stoke City but all of his success during his time in Staffordshire came with Bristol Rovers, where he spent the 2017/18 season on loan.

A year with Bury before a year and a half with Plymouth Argyle followed, which gave the striker some more valuable Football League experience before his move to South Wales.

Telford netted only the one goal during the second half of last season but has been firing on all cylinders this term, scoring 20 so far in just 19 games played.

FORM - WWWWL

08/01/22 – Newport County 0-2 Salford City

15/01/22 – Newport County 4-0 Harrogate Town

22/01/22 – Scunthorpe United 0-1 Newport County

25/01/22 – Leyton Orient 0-1 Newport County

29/01/22 – Newport County 2-1 Barrow

PLAYED FOR BOTH SIDES

Jamille Matt:

Rovers’ joint top scorer and captain Jamille Matt came to Nailsworth at the start of last season after being released by Newport County.

During his time at Rodney Parade, Matt netted 26 times over two seasons most memorably scoring in their famous FA Cup victory over Premier League Leicester City.

The attacker impressed last season and was nominated for League Two Player of the Season.

Jamma has been in fine form for Rob Edwards’ side this campaign, registering 17 goals and seven assists.

David Pipe:

The Welshman captained both Newport and FGR and had two years with Rovers playing a big part in both play-off campaigns prior to our eventual promotion to League Two in 2017.

The defender played just shy of 200 games for the Exiles over three spells which came either side of his time in GL6.

The 38 year old retired from professional football in 2019, finishing with Newport, the club where he played the majority of his career.

LAST TIME OUT

Newport County made it four wins in a row as they defeated Barrow 2-1 in a game that saw fans back at Rodney Parade for the first time in 2022.

Those fans didn’t have to wait long for a goal either as league top scorer Dom Telford ghosted into the box before heading well past keeper Paul Farman after just two minutes.

Just 10 minutes later and Telford made it two. Finn Azaz found the man in form who cut in onto his left foot before finishing emphatically to put daylight between the sides.

A stroke of luck gave the away side some hope just after the hour, as a mix up between keeper Nick Townsend and Mickey Demetriou saw the skipper turn the ball into his own net.

Telford wasn’t far from his hattrick late on, but County held their lead to put themselves into the automatic places, after an impressive start to the new year.

LAST TIME WE MET

Rovers agonisingly missed out on a trip to the League Two play-off final despite beating Newport 4-3 after extra time at The Fully Charged New Lawn.

FGR came flying out of the blocks and goals in the first 10 minutes from Ebou Adams and Aaron Collins brought the aggregate score back level.

Into the second half and Nicky Cadden saw his crossed free kick go all the way in to amazingly put Rovers ahead.

Good finishes from Kevin Ellison and Joss Labadie put the Exiles back in the driving seat, but Jamille Matt netted late on against his former club to send the game to extra time.

Either side could’ve snatched it in the extra half an hour and unfortunately for Rovers Nicky Maynard scrambled home right at the death to send Newport to Wembley.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

The sides first faced each other on a couple of occasions in the 90’s as Rovers began to rise up the leagues, whilst Newport were recovering from a reformation.

After Newport’s promotion to the National League in 2010, the sides faced each other six times, playing out three draws over a three year period.

The sides have been in the 4th tier together since our promotion in 2017 and have locked horns nine times in League Two action.

Both sides have managed three wins each from those games, accompanied by three score draws.