Hartlepool United have warned Newport County ‘We’re coming for you.”
The rivals are waging a fight against the drop – and either of them could yet go down.
Newly appointed United manager Matthew Bates, who took over from former Cardiff City boss Dave Jones, has pledged his team will go for goals at Cheltenham Town on Saturday.
Pools lie second from bottom, two points behind Newport County, and must win at Whaddon Road to realistically keep their hopes of Football League survival alive.
County make the long trip to Carlisle United, having earned four wins from their last five fixtures and clambered out of the bottom two.
Leyton Orient are already condemned to relegation, while one from Hartlepool, Newport and Cheltenham will join them in non-League football.
“We do need to win and that’s what we’ll be setting up for,” said Bates. “We need to score goals and we need to try to get as many bodies forward as we possibly can. You can only win by scoring.
“But we also need to look at keeping a clean sheet, that’s equally important.
“Cheltenham are in a dogfight like us. They are not going to roll over. They are only four points above us.
“We’ve watched them play, their pitch is not great.
“It will be a fight and we’ve got to fight harder than them to get the points, if we do that we’ve got a chance. “They are a physical side who like to play long balls.”
Newport manager Mike Flynn agrees with that the relegation battle is a dogfight.
“They’ve made a change (in manager), but it’s not a danger to Newport County because if we win our last two games then they can’t do anything about it,” says Flynn.
“It could give them a little kick, a little boost, but we’ll have to wait and see.
“It’s dog eat dog. It’s a results business and we want to get the results.
“I’m just thinking about Newport County.”
Defender Scott Bennett has recovered from a hamstring strain and is back in the squad at Brunton Park.
A win against play-off chasing Carlisle, coupled with Hartlepool failing to beat Cheltenham, would see County guarantee their Football League status.
Mitch Rose, Ben Tozer and Lenell John-Lewis are the only players ruled out by injuries. Rose has suffered ligament damage in training.
Defender Jamie Turley is back playing after seven months out with a knee injury. He played for the reserves in midweek, but is not travelling to Carlisle.
