Newport v Carlisle Preview: top seven ambitions

Michael Flynn’s amber army finding form – walesonline.co.uk

Both clubs want to make the top seven this season but for different reasons. Carlisle United have an expensive squad and have been in contention over the last couple of seasons, while Newport County started the season with real promise.

The Exiles had a testing period over October and November where they didn’t create as much as they did in the early weeks of the season, when Frank Nouble was on fire.

However, a mainstay of Michael Flynn’s reign has been the work rate of the team and the togetherness of the club. Those qualities have allowed them to pick up points against promotion-contending teams like Mansfield, Accrington and Swindon, even when they didn’t have too much pace or creativity in the middle third.

Centre-back Ben White maintained his impressive form after joining on loan from Brighton in the summer and he, along with Mickey Demetriou, has been key to successive wins to nil. They stamped out previous errors in a 1-0 win at Swindon, which Flynn described an excellent away performance at the end of November.

The following week, the Welsh outfit secured passage to the Third Round of the FA Cup with a 2-0 victory over Cambridge. Joss Labadie bagged a brace and showed impressive movement to the near-post for both the opener from Matty Dolan’s first half free-kick and the clincher from Nouble’s right-sided cross in the second half.

Midfielders have only scored five league goals between them this term, so more attacking contributions from Labadie would certainly aid their play-off push.

Like Newport, Carlisle remain in the FA Cup hat after a 1-1 draw with Gillingham. Aside from Danny Grainger’s penalty, Tomas Holy was only tested once, but equally there were few notable saves for Jack Bonham to make, which suggests they put in an efficient defensive display.

The main criticism that could be levelled at the Cumbrians recently though is that they have been a little too defensive. Kelvin Etuhu, Mike Jones and Luke Joyce are three midfielders known for what they do without the ball more than what they do with it, yet all three started at home to 21st place Morecambe, with whom they drew 1-1.

The strikers those midfielders are creating for haven’t been as clinical as they might have been either. Hallam Hope works hard and Richie Bennett wins a lot of flick-ons, but neither are currently playing with the confidence of somebody who could score 20 goals.

Despite the occasional rout, the Cumbrians have scored two or more goals on just six occasions this season – only seven teams have done so less frequently.

The positives are that Clint Hill has added some leadership at centre-back and behind them, Bonham has grown in confidence, meaning the defensive record has improved with seven conceded in their last six.

With the amber army rediscovering their Autumnal form though, this may be one of Carlisle’s more challenging afternoons.

The Football Lab’s Verdict: 1-0