Swindon will be hoping to continue a positive unbeaten streak as they play their game-in-hand away at Newport County.

With the original fixture postponed due to the Exiles’ involvement in the FA Cup, the game was rescheduled for April 9^th and means Swindon have an early opportunity to bounce back from a late sucker punch at the weekend.

Yeovil snatched an equaliser at the death after Keshi Anderson had put the Robins ahead just before half-time.

Before that, Swindon had scored seven in two games, won six points and put themselves back in with a shout of challenging the play-off positions with wins over Morecambe and Bury.

Town have been boosted by the return of Michael Doughty on Saturday who had been out for almost two months with a hamstring injury.

The Oppo

Newport’s last three matches exactly parallel Swindon’s – two wins and a draw. After failing to score against Colchester and Northampton in successive away defeats, a return to Rodney Parade brought victory over Cheltenham. Yeovil were beaten the following week before a 0-0 draw against Tranmere.

Newport are seventh in the home table, this season with Swindon’s away results putting them seventh for their season on the road.

Head-to-head

Town’s record against Newport, in the league, is not the greatest – before December’s 2-1 win at the County Ground, the last time the Robins beat the Exiles in a league fixture was 1987.

Earlier in the season, Town were on top in the Checkatrade Trophy, winning 1-0 through a Michael Doughty penalty - Swindon's third victory over the Exiles in four years.

25 Jan 1987         Swindon Town v Newport County             W            3-0          League Division Three

23 Sep 2014        Newport County v Swindon Town             W            1-2          Johnstone’s Paint Trophy

01 Sep 2015        Newport County v Swindon Town             W            1-1          Johnstone’s Paint Trophy

25 Nov 2017        Swindon Town v Newport County             L              0-1          League Two

14 Apr 2018        Newport County v Swindon Town             L              2-1          League Two

11 Sep 2018        Swindon Town v Newport County             W            1-0          Football League Trophy

08 Dec 2018        Swindon Town v Newport County             W            2-1          League Two

The Gaffer

Newport born and bred, Michael Flynn has a long relationship with the Club.

He began his Newport career as a teenager in the academy before breaking through to the first team and eventually earning a move to pro-football.  In 2012, Flynn returned to help fire the Club into the Football League with victory over Wrexham in the play-off final at Wembley.

After initially retiring from playing, he progressed through the roles of first team coach, academy manager, then (briefly and slightly bizarrely) Football and Business Development Director, before returning as a first team coach under then manager Graham Westley.

He re-signed as a player in January 2017 making his fourth debut for the Club in a 3-1 home win vs Hartlepool.

In March 2017, Michael Flynn was appointed the Club’s Caretaker Manager in the face of almost certain relegation from the Football League.  Cast 11 points adrift with 12 games to go, the rookie manager was tasked with nothing more than restoring fight and pride into the Club.  12 games later, he and the team had achieved what football pundits had deemed impossible and fought their way out of the relegation zone and retained their League Status in dramatic style.

On 9th May 2017, Michael Flynn was named as the Club’s permanent Manager.