Exiles 'not a million miles away' but must use Hudlin
- Published
Iwan Roberts reckons Newport County are "not a million miles away" from climbing the League Two table, but says the Exiles must make better use of striker Kyle Hudlin.
Newport are 17th in the fourth tier ahead of Saturday's home game against MK Dons (15:00 GMT) after a six-game winless league run which has featured five draws.
This weekend will see a welcome return to Rodney Parade for the Exiles, who have played on their patch only once since 2 November.
"They have drawn five of the last six - they are not a million miles away," former Wales striker Roberts told this week's Feast of Football podcast.
"They are missing their best player in Aaron Wildig, who is not going to be available for the rest of the season [because of injury].
"I am a big admirer of the way Nelson Jardim wants his team to play. They are comfortable on the ball - they build from the back and keep the ball really well."
Roberts, who watched Newport's stalemate at Colchester last weekend, feels the issues for head coach Jardim are in attack.
"They get to the final third and there's just a lack of ideas and a lack of creativity," he added.
"One criticism is they don't use Kyle Hudlin's physicality as much as they should do. I think they should be dropping balls into his chest so he can control it and, if you have someone who's 6ft 9in, you have to put crosses in the box."