Newport County face a tough League Two test against Grimsby Town at Blundell Park on Saturday.
Manager Michael Flynn added three new players to his squad during the January transfer window, while Grimsby signed six.
Adebayo Azeez, Ben Kennedy and Harry McKirdy joined County, while Sebastian Ring, Ludvig Öhman, Luke Hendrie, Joe Grayson and Kristian Dennis linked with Grimsby and Elliot Embleton extending his loan.
Azeez, 25, joins the Exiles on a permanent deal while Stevenage’s 22-year-old midfielder Kennedy joins on loan until the end of the season.
Kennedy has already scored six goals in League Two for Stevenage this season.
Aston Villa forward McKirdy, 21, has also joined on loan for the rest of the season, having scored against Newport while on loan at Crewe last season.
“I’m delighted,” said Flynn. “Azeez has blistering pace and adds to our attacking line-up and the competition for places shows we are planning for the future as well.
“Kennedy is a player I have always liked. Every time he has played against us he has caused us problems.”
“McKirdy had some great experience at Crewe last season.
“He adds to our numbers up front and gives us some real strength in depth until the end of the season.”
Newport are keen to reignite their push for the League Two play-offs when they travel to Grimsby Town on Saturday. The Exiles head into the game with confidence having gone the last three matches unbeaten in all competitions
Newport strikers Padraig Amond and Jamille Matt return to return to Cleethorpes having played for the Mariners earlier in their careers.
Amond insists the Exiles are focused on the match at Grimsby and have put next Tuesday’s FA Cup replay against Middlesbrough at home out of their minds.
“I don’t care about Middlesbrough right now,” said Amond. “It’s all about Saturday.
“We haven’t let any game be a distraction for us so far and we don’t want to start now.
“The league is the most important thing for us. The cup is brilliant for the club money-wise, but the league is the bread and butter and that’s where you’ll be judged.
“We have eight games in 24 days – Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday – but we can’t use that as an excuse.
“We need to get back to winning ways on Saturday if we’re to have any aspirations of making the play-offs.”
“We’ve got games in hand, but we need to get points on the board.”
