Newport vs Brighton preview

 Newport county will look to add another giant killing to the carabao cup upsets already caused this season as we take on Brighton and hove Albion in this Sunday's fa cup 3rd round tie at Rodney Parade.

Already this season we've beaten Championship sides Watford and Swansea in the league cup and narrowly missed out on a place in the quarter finals as we lost on penalties to Newcastle United. County also have a Good recent history in the Fa cup as we have beaten the likes of Leeds united, Middlesbrough and Leicester city and ran Tottenham and Man city real close in the past few years. Now we look to add Brighton to the list 

County go into this game on a bit of a poor run of form with only 1 win in their past 5 games with 2 draws and 2 defeats in that time. I don't think this is a cause for concern because this game is a one off game for the club and form goes out of the window for a big game like this. Brighton on the other hand are in worse form with 1 win in their last 16 games in all competitions which might give county fans a bit of optimism going into the game. 

Ahead of this game I spoke to Brighton fan page on Instagram to get the Brighton angle ahead of this game. They expect Brighton to make a lot of changes from the game against Wolves last Saturday. They expect 9 changes from that game with only Joel veltman and Adam Webster to keep their spots in the team with a lot of youngsters to come in. They said that 2 players to look out for are striker Andi Zeqiri and winger Percy Tau who has caused a lot of excitement among the Brighton fan base after he was recalled from his loan at Anderlecht in the week. They said they that there could be an upset on Sunday due to our Fa cup pedigree over the past few years. They predict a 2-1 win for Brighton but their not the most confident. 

 This will be the first game without both Scott twine and Brandon cooper who have both been recalled by their parent clubs in the past week. I believe that this could affect us because they were key players for us but we have one of our strongest squads in the recent past so we will have players that can step in at these positions. 

I think the magic of the Fa cup will be there on Sunday as I think we will beat Brighton 2-1 in a tight game but it won't be the same without the fans that have been key in previous upsets in this competition. 

This is my opinion let me know what you think in the comments below! Also don't forget to follow me on Instagram @absolutely_county and twitter @Absolutecounty

Life without scott twine

 The news that all county fans were dreading has come as its been confirmed that Scott Twine has been recalled by his parent club Swindon and who's to blame them as he has be involved in 41.9% of our goals this season as county sit 2nd in league 2, a point behind leaders Carlisle with a game in hand. With 6 goals and 7 assists in the league this season Swindon need him badly as they sit 23rd in league 1 and 2 points from safety. So with this news whats next for the club and how do we go about replacing him?

Firstly Scott has been arguably the best player in league 2 this season and finding a player to replace him is going to be really hard but here are some options for Michael Flynn to consider before he makes his final decision. 

1. look at players we already have. 

There are 1 or 2 players that we already have in the squad that could fill the position that Twine left. One of them which many fans will say will be his replacement is Jamie Devitt who has lots of experience at this level and at league 1. However personally I'd love to see Lewis Collins given an opportunity. When ever he's played for the club he's impressed most of the fan base and like Scott Twine was when he first came in Collins is a bit of an unknown quantity and has plenty to prove and improve on. The similarities between Collins and Twine are many! They play in the same position for starters and they have a lot of pace for an attacking midfielder. Collins might not have the same experience that Devitt has but if your good enough then your old enough.

2. look in the January transfer window.

The reason why Twine has gone is because of the January transfer window is open and because of this Flynny could be tempted to use his contacts and try and find another outstanding loan player. In the past we've managed to have many outstanding players on loan that have now gone on to bigger and better things for example Ben White is now a first team starter at Brighton and could feature in the Fa cup 3rd round match at Rodney Parade on Sunday. I've heard that County are interested in Tottenham midfielder Jack roles on loan which is very close to being done and Swansea forward Liam Cullen is another player we hold an interest in. These 2 players would be very good additions to the squad as both have played at a higher level. 

3. Just sign Scott Twine.

According to reports county have made a bid to sign Twine on a permanent deal. If the bid is turned down then our hopes of resigning Twine will rest on Sunday's Fa cup tie against Brighton and hove Albion. If we win then we'll get more money into the club because of progressing. If we don't get him this month then we could hope that he doesn't renew is contract at Swindon which is up in the summer then we can sign him on a free.  

This is my opinion on what could happen without Scott twine make sure you let me know what you think in the comments below! Also don't forget to follow me on twitter @Absolutecounty and Instagram @absoutely_county