Luke Jephcott was delighted to play a pivotal role in Saturday’s win over MK Dons and acknowledged the intense competition for places within the squad.
The Exiles snapped a six-game winless run, with hat-tricks from Bryn Morris and Bobby Kamwa propelling them to a dominant victory in front of the fans at Rodney Parade.
After getting three assists in the game on his first league start of the campaign, the 24-year-old was pleased to return to winning ways and believes hard work on the training pitch is paying off.
“It was great afternoon for the boys and me personally." he said. "I’ve been working hard away from the pitch, training, keeping my head down and I got my chance today.
“I think the most important thing is we’ve got the result today. Six goals and two hat-tricks, you can’t really complain with that, but the main thing is that we got the three points.
“We’ve been working on things in training throughout the week, how it would be best to go about the game. We knew they’d go man-for-man so it was all about creating overloads, quick passes and I think it showed today that the work we put in has paid off”.
Bobby Kamwa found himself on the end of two Jephcott assists as he went on to net his first career hat-trick.
On his on field partnerships, Jephcott added: “It’s important to have a strong connection on the pitch and that’s something that improves in training and on a gameday.
“It shows in matches, when you know how other people play and the partnership’s are vital. With someone like Bobby Kamwa, I know he can go in behind or come to feet so it does make it a lot easier and when I found him he took his goals brilliantly today.”
With this being the striker’s second start of the season, there’s clear competition for the number 9 role with Kyle Hudlin and Courtney Baker-Richardson both pushing to start.
“I’m going to keep my head down and keep working hard. This game is done now and there’s not only competition in my position but throughout the squad.
“The main thing now is that we move onto the next game and work hard in the week preparing for Bromley. As a team we need to build on this performance and carry that into Bromley.
“There’s a couple things we know that we need to improve on but it is important that we kick on now and not rest on this performance."
