Can Newport avoid drop with spirit of great escape?

Newport will face fellow relegation rivals Barrow on the final day of the season [Huw Evans Agency] Nearly a decade on from Newport County's "great escape", they are again fighting for their Football League lives. Back in 2017, newly appointed manager Michael Flynn inspired one of the most dramatic survivals in EFL history. He steered the Exiles from 11 points adrift at the bottom of League Two to safety in the final minute of a remarkable final day.

Fast forward to this season and Newport are once again fighting for their survival with eight games to go. This time Christian Fuchs is hoping to summon the spirit of that past close shave to avoid the drop despite County spending more than five months in the relegation zone. It took a 3-1 win over Tranmere Rovers to finally steer the Exiles clear of the relegation places for the first time in 151 days on 3 March.

'Big win' for Newport keeps them in fight to survive Can Newport's new signings save them from league exit? County 'locked in' at Rodney Parade even if relegated They won as many games, three, in the four-week spell as they had managed in the first four months of the league season to boost survival chances. But a smash-and-grab defeat by league leaders Bromley on Tuesday night - and Harrogate's win over Tranmere - has dragged Newport back to within a point of the relegation scrap.

Former Wales international Sam Vokes told the Feast of Football podcast that Newport will be "gutted" to have lost to the leaders having dominated much of the game. Vokes also echoed the need for internal drive: "As players it has to come from within. You're fighting for your job, your livelihood.