Newport need to get 'back to basics' says Fuchs

Christian Fuchs won 78 senior caps for Austria

Newport County's new manager Christian Fuchs says his side need to get "back to basics" in a bid to haul themselves off the bottom of League Two.

County fell to a 3-0 defeat at Oldham Athletic in Fuchs' first game in charge after succeeding Dave Hughes.

The loss at Boundary Park leaves the Exiles five points adrift of safety at the bottom of the table.

"My mentality as a manager is to do what's required right now - right now, we need to go back to basics," Fuchs said.

"We need to make sure that we solidify our shape behind the ball, solidify our defence, get something on the board and then hopefully that gives them a little bit more confidence and we can create momentum.

"Because that's definitely not there right now, I don't blame the boys, they haven't had a good season so far."

Former Austria and Leicester City defender Fuchs said he can empathise with his players.

"It's only three wins so far in the league and I've been in those situations many times myself," he added.

"When you fight against relegation, when you're all the way at the bottom, it's not easy.

"Things feel two, three times harder, the legs are heavier right away.

"But again, when I look at the group when we trained on Friday or after the game, there's a lot of energy there and that's what gives me the hope."

Fuchs, 39, was part of the Leicester team which won the Premier League in 2016 and has been appointed manager of County on a "long-term contract".

Newport have won only three of 17 League Two games this season, including Saturday's defeat at Oldham.

"I understand and I get that there were concerns," he said.

"But honestly, I've watched several games and I don't think they deserve where they are right now."

However, Fuchs accepts there is no "magic formula" behind their disappointing league position.

"If you concede always more goals than you score, then you will be at the very bottom," said the former left-back who also won the FA Cup with Leicester.

"But I've seen them play, the performances were not bad.

"If we can bring consistent performance like we did in the first half [at Oldham], then we might walk away with a point, which would be a blessing for us.

"But now it's back to the drawing board. We have a whole week now to prepare for Barrow and I hope we see a different face of us."

Fuchs previously worked as assistant coach for Charlotte FC in America's MLS after a playing career which included clubs in Austria and Germany.

Despite Newport's current predicament, he believes the club can turn things around and that everyone is pulling in the right direction.

"As tough as it is right now, the people that are in charge, they're caring people," he added.

"Everybody's wearing 10 different hats just to make sure that the players get provided with everything they need.

"It's really caring and that was the part that convinced me at the end that there's good people in charge, there are good people on board that just go above and beyond to help the team succeed."