After Seb Palmer-Houlden’s dramatic late winner at Doncaster last weekend, we can now focus on the FA Cup and this evening's clash away at Eastleigh.
A mouth-watering FA Cup encounter with Manchester United awaits the winner of Tuesday’s encounter, and Graham Coughlan’s men will be full of confidence following our late victory on Saturday.
The manager made several changes for Saturday’s game, with Adam Lewis, James Waite and Kiban Rai stepping in for Seb Palmer-Houlden, Harry Charsley and Lewis Payne. He is likely to rotate some of these back into the team for Tuesday, with Seb looking to return after his late goal.
Manager's Comments
Graham Coughlan made his stance on the FA Cup clash known in his recent pre-match press conference and confirmed his head wouldn't be turned by the noise in the media and potentially facing Premier League giants Manchester United in round four: "It's a great achievement for both sides, Eastleigh and Newport, to still be in the FA Cup at this stage," Coughlan started.
"Both clubs have done very well and naturally both sides will want to push on and go further into the rounds, seek the benefits of the next stage, the finances, the day out, etc.
"But we have to concentrate on the game in hand, lets not get dragged into the noise in the media, it's a game of football.
"It's 90 minutes, possibly 120 [minutes], it's 11 v 11, club v club, team v team and that's all we're thinking about. It's nothing more, nothing less," confirmed the Gaffer.
You can watch the full press conference HERE.
Opposition Form
Eastleigh come into Tuesday’s game on a mixed run of form. Following their 1-1 draw with us at Rodney Parade last weekend, they lost 1-0 at home to Southend this past Saturday thanks to a Jack Bridge penalty.
Before that, they were involved in an explosive few games over Christmas, losing 4-1 to Dagenham and Redbridge and drawing 4-4 with them.
National League-leading scorer Callum McCallum bagged a hat trick in the latter game. The striker is likely to be partnered by Scott Quigley, with Chris, the player who bagged the equaliser at Rodney Parade, likely to be sitting behind the two.
Ticket Info
All tickets for Tuesday’s clash with Eastleigh have sold out.
Last Time Out
Our last game with Eastleigh was the game that led to this replay. The game ended in a 1-1 draw, with a late penalty ensuring we would need to head to Hampshire to get the job done.
Chris Maguire converted from the spot with less than minutes left on the clock to cancel out James Clarke’s opener in what was a physically demanding game in South Wales. The Exiles dominated the bulk of the game and will be hoping to make their chances count away from home to secure their spot in the fourth round.
You can watch the match highlights HERE.
Head to Head
We have only played Eastleigh on a handful of occasions, with our last trip to the Silverlake Stadium taking place all the way back in 2010, a 4-1 victory that we covered in this week’s From the Archive.
Our overall record vs Eastleigh stands at two wins and one draw.
Played for Both
There have not been many players who have lined up for both Newport and Eastleigh. The most notable is Lewis Payne. Our current loanee was also sent on loan to Eastleigh, playing a handful of games for the Spitfires in 2023.
Another recent player to line up for both is Tristan Abrahams. Abrahams played for us in 2019, making 56 appearances, and scoring eight times. He would join Eastleigh in 2021, playing 27 times for the Hampshire outfit.
Other notable players to have played for both include Craig McAllister, Ryan Burge, Ryan Bird, and Jamie Turley.