Graham Coughlan: Newport County defensive frailties 'irritating'

Graham Coughlan marked 12 months in charge of Newport County against Walsall

Newport County manager Graham Coughlan says he is irritated by his side's defensive mistakes this season.

County were denied a much-needed League Two win as Walsall came back to secure a late 3-3 draw at Rodney Parade.

Coughlan's side had led three times in the game, but Freddie Draper capitalised on defensive errors to score a hat-trick.

"Our defensive frailties are really, really irritating me at this moment," Coughlan said.

"I think you can look back at every goal we've conceded this season and they are down to individual errors.

"Whether that's because we're getting uptight, whether we're getting ourselves nervous or whether we're feeling a little bit of pressure... Yes, they are young lads, but that's still no excuse for conceding the goals that we're conceding.

"Getting a centre-half pairing has been an issue - we can't seem to get any type of continuity at centre-half.

"We're free flowing and free scoring and really good offensively and scoring in every game.

"But we've certainly got to do better defensively."

Newport have only won once in nine league games and are 19th in the table, five points clear of the relegation zone.

"We can't start wallowing in this - we've got to roll our sleeves up and dig in," Coughlan said.

"But I expect better and I expect better from players. It's a catalogue of errors that's haunting us."

Coughlan's frustration was compounded by the fact that Draper, Walsall's hat-trick hero, was a player he tried to sign during the summer.

Draper, 19, is on a season-long loan from Lincoln City after a successful spell at Irish side Drogheda United last season, where he scored eight goals in 21 games.

"We spoke to Freddie, he's obviously had a good spell across in the League of Ireland," said Coughlan.

"It's really heartbreaking when you are going after these players and they opt to go elsewhere and they come back and they haunt you.

"It's tough going at the minute."