FA Cup: Newport County at home to Brighton in third round
- Published
Newport County have beaten Leyton Orient and Salford City to reach the FA Cup third round
Newport County will host Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion in the FA Cup third round.
County secured their place in the third round for the fourth consecutive season following victory over Salford City.
Brighton, managed by former Swansea boss Graham Potter, are 16th in the Premier League.
Newport's fellow League Two side Stevenage will host Swansea City and Cardiff have been handed an away tie at Championship rivals Nottingham Forest.
The ties will be played over the weekend of 8-11 January, 2021.
Newport have become feared FA Cup giant killers in recent years with marquee wins over then Championship club Leeds United, Middlesbrough and former Premier League champions Leicester City.
Michael Flynn's side also took Tottenham Hotspur to a replay at Wembley and in 2019 reached the fifth round before falling to Manchester City.
He expects Newport to host Potter's side in front of live television cameras, providing a significant financial boost while his players have to continue playing behind closed doors while clubs in England prepare for the easing of restrictions there.
"I don't know what the TV fees are. It could be a six-figure sum, which is huge for us at the moment and fingers crossed that we get it," Flynn told BBC Radio Wales.
"It's more about the stability of the football club as well. It keeps adding to the coffers and it's something that we want - we want the football club here for a long time."
He added: "You look at the cup games this season, we've probably - just the cup games alone - we've probably lost most of 40,000 fans over a few games and that's a massive, massive income loss for us.
"It's not ideal and it will soften the blow if we're on TV because obviously the revenue there that we can give to the club is crucial.
"Listen, I probably don't want to talk too much about it. I'm quite frustrated with it all at the moment so it's probably best if I let others talk about it."
Even so, Flynn is delighted Newport will again figure in a high-profile game.
"It's a fantastic draw. It puts the club on the map again. It's another year when we've brought a Premier League club to Rodney Parade.
"You never get bored of it. You always want the excitement of a big game, but you want it more regular - the more you taste it, the more you want it.
"It's a fantastic achievement. The players have done unbelievably to keep putting us in this position so they deserve the credit to be fair."
Flynn is also looking forward to welcoming Brighton defender Ben White back to Newport.
White played on loan at Rodney Parade under Flynn in 2017-18 before establishing himself at parent club Brighton.
"It will be good to see Ben White again," said Flynn.