Deja vu back at Newport for AFC Telford's Jake Reid
AFC Telford United striker Jake Reid will experience a familiar feeling for more reasons than one when striker Jake Reid returns to his former club Newport County.
Reid joined the Bucks in the summer after a stint with the Exiles last season in the second half of last season.
The Welsh club have since move from Spytty Park to their current ground Rodney Parade.
But while the surroundings have changed, there are certainly similarities between the situations regarding Newport last season and his current club this weekend.
Like Telford now, County were embroiled in a fight for Blue Square Premier survival last season.
On that occasion, Reid and his team mates managed to secure their survival with a 1-0 win at home to Alfreton on penultimate weekend of the season.
And, despite Telford's bleak position at the bottom of the table going into tomorrow's game, the forward sees similar qualities within the current Bucks side which he believes will give them a fighting chance of beating the drop.
He said: "There was a good vibe about Newport when I was there because of their FA Trophy run (which culminated in 2-0 final defeat to York City) but, in terms of the league, we were in a similar situation fighting against relegation.
"It was tough at times but there was still a buzz at the club and we grafted it out and got the results that we needed.
"There was a good bunch of lads a good work ethic and I think we have got that here at Telford so hopefully we can emulate what they did."
And it's workrate that Reid believes will be the key to upsetting the form book this weekend against Justin Edinburgh's promotion contenders.
The Exiles have dropped points in recent weeks against struggling Barrow and Tamworth and Reid believes that out-battling them will be crucial to Telford's chances.
He said: "In this league, anybody can beat anybody on any given day. They have dropped points to teams that like to scrap for points.
"If we can go out there and scrap for it we can take points off them."
Despite his optimism, Reid is under no illusions that it will take goals – and a far tighter defence than has been showcased in recent games – if the Bucks are to claw their way back to safety.
Telford have not taken the lead in a game since their trip to Stockport at the end of December.
And Reid said: "Our main problem is we don't give ourselves chances to win games because we go behind. When you go 1-0 down early or 2-0 you give the opposition a licence to defend."
The Bucks have no new injury worries, with just Michael Briscoe still on the sidelines with a long-standing back problem.
Newport's 19-goal top scorer Aaron O'Connor is set to miss the game with a thigh injury, but recent new signing Rhys Griffiths is likely to make the first-team sheet for his new club.
