Welshmen Go Head-To-Head In Crunch Clash

Rodney Parade, home of the Dragons. Pic: Alamy

Rodney Parade, home of the Dragons. Pic: Alamy

Welsh managers Michael Flynn and Nathan Jones go head-to-head at Rodney Parade in Newport on Saturday (3pm). Newport-born Flynn, aged 37, is manager of his home city club County, while Jones, a 44-year-old from the Rhondda, is in charge at Luton Town. Neither man can afford to see his team lose a clash which is […]

Welsh managers Michael Flynn and Nathan Jones go head-to-head at Rodney Parade in Newport on Saturday (3pm).

Newport-born Flynn, aged 37, is manager of his home city club County, while Jones, a 44-year-old from the Rhondda, is in charge at Luton Town.

Neither man can afford to see his team lose a clash which is crucial to hopes of promotion.

County are 11th and aiming to launch a charge to finish in the play-offs spots, while the Hatters have been toppled from top spot after four League Two matches without a win.

Accrington Stanley are the new leaders, while Luton are second.

Newport County manager Mike Flynn. Pic: Getty Images.

Jones, a former Cardiff City junior player who started his senior career with Merthyr Town, is intent on ensuring his team stay on track for automatic promotion.

Their form has dipped, but Jones says: “Things have conspired to go against us a little bit, but you get that through a season.

“We haven’t taken the points we would have liked to, so we’re having a little bit of a slow patch, which all teams go through.

“We haven’t been through them yet, because we were averaging two points a game up until the recent patch we’ve had.

“So we’re in credit. It’s just we’ve got to make sure we come through this period now.

“I don’t think the players are feeling the pressure.”

Luton were six points ahead of second-placed Accrington and 10 points clear of third before their run of four games without a win.

Now they are behind Accrington and have a seven points gap to fourth.

Former Luton manager David Pleat first took Jones to Kenilworth Road in 1995, signing him from Merthyr for £10,000, but Pleat moved to Sheffield Wednesday and the Welsh defender moved on without making a first team appearance.

Jones went on to play for Brighton, Yeovil, Southend plus Numancia and Badajoz in Spain. He made more than 500 first team appearances in the UK, helping teams win promotion three times.

Jones was first team coach at Brighton before taking over at Luton, while he holds a Uefa Pro Licence and spent time coaching England’s under-21 team, working alongside Gareth Southgate.

Luton drew 2-2 at Coventry City in midweek, while Newport manager Flynn was ‘thrilled’ with their win at Yeovil Town last weekend.

Josh Sheehan and Paul Hayes, with his fourth goal in two fixtures, scored the goals in a 2-0 League Two victory.

This was a first win since January for the Exiles, but they are only five points outside the play-offs and seven of their last 10 fixtures are at Rodney Parade.

Other League Two matches on Saturday (All 3pm kick-offs unless stated): Lincoln City vs Grimsby Town (1pm)

Notts County vs Mansfield Town (1pm), Accrington Stanley v Forest Green Rovers, Barnet v Wycombe Wanderers, Cambridge United v Swindon Town, Carlisle United v Crawley Town, Cheltenham Town v Chesterfield, Colchester United v Yeovil Town, Crewe Alexandra v Coventry City, Morecambe v Exeter City, Port Vale v Stevenage.

Newport’s remaining fixtures:

March

Saturday 17: Newport County v Luton Town (3pm)

Saturday 24: Newport County v Crewe (3pm)

Friday 30: Newport County v Coventry City (3pm)

April

Monday 2: Chesterfield v Newport County (3pm)

Saturday 7: Newport County v Stevenage (3pm)

Saturday 14: Newport County v Yeovil Town (3pm)

Saturday 21: Barnet v Newport County (3pm)

Tuesday 24: Newport County v Accrington Stanley (7.45pm)

Saturday 28: Newport County v Cambridge United (3pm)

May

Saturday 5: Carlisle United v Newport County (3pm)

League Two table – all teams play 46 matches

|  HOME |  AWAY
P W D L F A W D L F A GD PTS
1 Accrington 36 13 2 3 34 17 9 3 6 27 22 +22 71
2 Luton 37 13 2 4 52 21 7 8 3 26 18 +39 70
3 Notts Co 37 12 4 2 36 16 6 7 6 23 22 +21 65
4 Wycombe 36 10 4 5 40 30 8 5 4 28 22 +16 63
5 Mansfield 36 10 8 1 37 19 6 6 5 18 18 +18 62
6 Exeter 35 11 3 4 24 14 7 3 7 21 24 +7 60
7 Coventry 36 11 3 4 25 13 6 4 8 16 17 +11 58
8 Lincoln 36 9 6 3 29 18 6 6 6 21 21 +11 57
9 Swindon 36 8 2 8 23 32 10 1 7 32 22 +1 57
10 Carlisle 37 7 6 5 26 17 8 4 7 27 29 +7 55
11 Newport Co 36 6 8 2 23 16 7 5 8 23 30 0 52
12 Crawley 36 8 3 7 22 17 7 4 7 20 27 -2 52
13 Colchester 36 8 6 4 27 17 5 6 7 19 25 +4 51
14 Cambridge U 37 10 5 3 23 13 3 6 10 14 34 -10 50
15 Cheltenham 37 7 5 6 26 22 4 6 9 26 31 -1 44
16 Stevenage 36 7 8 3 34 21 4 2 12 14 32 -5 43
17 Yeovil 36 8 4 7 27 19 2 5 10 19 38 -11 39
18 Port Vale 36 5 5 7 19 21 4 5 10 20 30 -12 37
19 Crewe 36 7 3 8 23 26 4 1 13 20 33 -16 37
20 Forest Green 36 8 2 9 28 30 2 5 10 15 31 -18 37
21 Grimsby 37 4 7 8 15 23 5 3 10 16 31 -23 37
22 Morecambe 35 5 4 7 17 22 3 8 8 18 24 -11 36
23 Barnet 37 4 6 8 16 22 3 3 13 18 32 -20 30
24 Chesterfield 35 6 3 10 22 29 2 3 11 14 35 -28 30

Related News

Ethan Ampadu of Leeds United and Wales. Pic: Alamy

Wales Foursome Have FA Cup, World Cup, and Survival Scrap on Their Mind

Wales will soon be turning to their honorary four Yorkshireman – Ethan Ampadu, Joe Rodon, Dan James and Karl Darlow – and be relieved to find they are fit and firing.

Ian Mitchelmore | 4 hours ago
Swansea City striker Zan Vipotnik celebrates. Pic: Alamy

Hey, Swansea City . . . What’s the Plan for Zan?

Zan is the man for Swansea City right now, but is that for the short or long term, considers Ian Mitchelmore.

Ian Mitchelmore | Mar 12, 2026
Newport County players. Pic. Alamy

Newport County Can Still Roll the Dice . . . But They Need Ladders, Not Snakes

With just 10 regular season games left to play in 2025-26, Newport County's season is fast approaching crunch time, as Ian Mitchelmore reports.

Ian Mitchelmore | Mar 12, 2026
Wrexham's Kieffer Moore. Pic. Alamy

Kieffer Moore Blow Casts Shadow Over Wales and Wrexham Hopes

Kieffer Moore’s injury has cast a cloud of anxiety that has settled over both Wrexham and Wales as both bid for a step towards glory.

David Williams | Mar 11, 2026
Head Coach Vitor Matos. Pic. Alamy

Swansea City Boss Ignores Play-Off Chat . . . But Wrexham Clash Will Turn up the Volume

Vitor Matos insists talk of a Championship play-off push by Swansea City is not on his mind ahead of Friday’s big Welsh derby against Wrexham.

David Williams | Mar 11, 2026
Brian Barry-Murphy Head Coach of Cardiff City. Pic. Alamy

It’s not Meant to be Easy, Insists Brian Barry-Murphy as Cardiff City Held

Cardiff City manager Brian Barry-Murphy insists the grind of a League One promotion race was never supposed to be easy after his side slipped up again.

David Parsons | Mar 11, 2026