Newport boss David Hughes frustrated but still positive after Salford defeat

Newport boss David Hughes was frustrated after his side suffered a third defeat in a row in all competitions in the 1-0 home defeat to Salford.

But he was convinced that they deserved more after opposition keeper Matt Young saved superbly to deny Matt Smith and Michael Reindorf.

“It sounds daft, but the performance was really positive,” said Hughes, whose side went down to a stoppage-time defeat at Grimsby at the weekend.

“On the back of late last-minute disappointment on Saturday, that definitely wasn’t carried over into the performance.”

He added: “Their keeper made some outstanding saves and I thought the progress was really positive.

“We want to win, of course, but there were a number of good characteristics in the performance.

“We challenged the players to be better on the ball and that was certainly evident.

“We got caught on a set-play, which is a really important part of the game, so we’re really disappointed with a defeat when we felt we definitely deserved a point – minimum.”

Salford manager Karl Robinson saw his side grind out a 1-0 win at Newport but labelled the performance “not good enough” and reiterated his desire for fresh investment in the squad.

A second goal of the season from Adebola Oluwo earned the visitors a hard-fought three points at Rodney Parade.

The former Barnet centre-back, who also found the net in Salford’s win over Notts County earlier this month, produced a rare moment of quality in the 51st minute with a controlled volleyed finish after Ben Woodburn came short for a corner and crossed to the far post.

“It was not good enough,” said Robinson.

“My sole focus now is Saturday. We’ll analyse it and break it down and we’ll go over it on Thursday, and then we’ve got a big 24 hours to recover and prepare for another big game at Walsall. We know how hard it is there.

“I wouldn’t say we were toothless, because we showed a bit of quality at times. We defended wonderfully well and the save from Youngy (goalkeeper Matty Young) was a worldie, with his right hand.

“We had three glorious chances to kill it off and we never took them, but once we changed to a back four we saw the game out really well.”

Robinson made it clear to the Salford board that he expects reinforcements before the transfer window shuts on September 1.

“I am a little bit frustrated because we’ve had a wonderful start to the season in relation to what we’ve got (in the squad),” he said. “But we need so much more.”