Newport need to scrap to end losing streak - Hughes
- Published
Manager David Hughes has demanded that Newport County show their ability to scrap when trying to end a six-game losing streak at Tranmere.
The Exiles travel to Prenton Park in League Two (15:00 BST) after slipping down to 22nd in the table.
Newport were tipped by many for a relegation struggle after finishing the 2024-25 season on a nine-game winless streak.
They started life under Hughes promisingly with a draw against Notts County and 2-1 win at Crawley but a 1-0 Carabao Cup defeat to Championship Millwall has been followed by league losses to Grimsby, Salford, Milton Keynes Dons, Cambridge and Bristol Rovers.
"There's a point in time where it doesn't matter how you do it, you've just got to do it," said the manager, who left his coaching role with Manchester United Under-21s for the Rodney Parade job.
"We have shown in the first couple of performances, and all the way through to a certain degree, the ability to scrap and dig in when up against it."
Newport lost five games on the spin under Nelson Jardim last December and January but responded with a February run that went a long way towards retaining their League Two status.
The Graham Coughlan era ended with eight straight losses to finish the 2023-24 season after they had been on the fringes of the play-offs.