Hughes could freshen up Newport side for Lions tie

David Hughes is mulling over changes to his Newport County side in their bid to cause a Carabao Cup upset against Millwall. The Exiles welcome the Lions to Rodney Parade on Tuesday (19:30 BST) after beating Barnet on penalties in the preliminary round. Newport extended their unbeaten start to life under Hughes on Saturday when beating Crawley 2-1 thanks to goals by Kai Whitmore and Liam Shephard in Sussex.

Newport County manager David Hughes after the win at Crawley
[Huw Evans Picture Agency]

David Hughes is mulling over changes to his Newport County side in their bid to cause a Carabao Cup upset against Millwall.

The Exiles welcome the Lions to Rodney Parade on Tuesday (19:30 BST) after beating Barnet on penalties in the preliminary round.

Newport extended their unbeaten start to life under Hughes on Saturday when beating Crawley 2-1 thanks to goals by Kai Whitmore and Liam Shephard in Sussex.

The County manager has used 14 starters in four fixtures so far and, with a league trip to Grimsby Town to come on Saturday, will consider tinkering with his line-up.

"We've discussed that we will need everybody," said Hughes, who is yet to field Anthony Glennon and Bobby Kamwa - both regulars last season - in an XI this term.

"Some of the guys have not started but over the coming period everybody will be massively valuable.

"The group needs to keep themselves level and focused, then when the opportunity is there they need to grasp it."

Millwall got their Championship campaign off to a winning start with an impressive 2-1 win at Norwich over the weekend.

Newport have enjoyed lucrative FA Cup runs in recent seasons while in the Carabao Cup they have claimed the scalps of Charlton, Luton, Portsmouth, Ipswich, Swansea and Watford.

"We know the value of the cups, they are significant and there is a rich history here with runs," said Hughes.

"We'd love to replicate that but what we have to do is ensure we monitor the players off the back of the weekend performance to see who is fresh and who is ready to play again.

"We need to give a good account of ourselves and we know that we are the underdogs. The league is the most important thing, let's not forget that, but a cup game is a nice break."

Category: General Sports