Preview: Crawley Town vs. Newport County - prediction, team news, lineups

Crawley drew 3-3 away to Stockport County, while Newport held AFC Wimbledon to a share of the spoils.

Match preview

After being thrashed 6-0 by Swindon Town in their previous match, Crawley must have been fearing the worst when they fell 2-0 behind to Stockport last weekend, but they displayed tremendous fightback to gain a positive result at Edgeley Park.

In fact, Scott Lindsey would have been disappointed not to see his side win in the end, with his side leading until the last two minutes of normal time. However, Isaac Olaofe's late strike meant the two teams came out equal from a topsy-turvy encounter.

The Red Devils were involved in another thrilling contest in midweek, coming from behind once again to defeat League One side Charlton Athletic 4-3 in the Football League Trophy, which should hugely boost their confidence of picking up another positive result against Newport on Saturday.

A win would see them leapfrog their opponents and potentially move into the play-off positions depending on results elsewhere, which would be a remarkable return considering that Crawley were one of the favourites to be relegated this season.

Likewise, Newport have performed above expectations during the early weeks of the campaign, with Graham Coughlan's side sitting in sixth on 10 points from their opening six matches.

The Exiles are unbeaten in their last four games in all competitions, including an impressive 1-1 draw against Premier League side Brentford in the EFL Cup before being beaten on penalties.

Following wins against Forest Green and Sutton United, Newport came from two goals behind to claim a 2-2 draw against unbeaten Wimbledon last weekend, with Will Evans and Omar Bogle demonstrating their qualities at this level by both getting on the scoresheet.

Should they come away from Broadfield Stadium with all three points this weekend, there will be real optimism that Coughlan's side can challenge for the play-off spots once again after a couple of quieter seasons finishing in the middle of the table.

Crawley Town League Two form:

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Crawley Town form (all competitions):

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Newport County League Two form:

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Newport County form (all competitions):

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Team News

Lindsey made eight changes for his side's win against Charlton in the Football League Trophy on Tuesday, so he is likely to revert to a more similar starting XI from last weekend's draw against Stockport.

That should mean Adam Campbell, Laurence Maguire and Danilo Orsi all slot straight back into the hosts' line-up after each of them scored in the North West last time out.

Newport, meanwhile, could be fresher after having a free midweek, with Coughlan likely to reward his players by naming an unchanged side after they showed excellent courage to come from behind and claim a point against Wimbledon.

Evans, who crucially pulled one goal back on the stroke of half-time during that 2-2 draw, has been nominated for League Two's Player of the Month and will continue to operate from the right flank.

Crawley Town possible starting lineup:

Addai; Wright, Williams, Ransom, Maguire; Forster, Gladwin, Kelly, Tsaroulla; Orsi, Campbell

Newport County possible starting lineup:

Townsend; McLoughlin, Clarke, Delaney, Lewis; Evans, Wildig, Bennett, Morris; Bogle, Charsley

We say: Crawley Town 2-2 Newport County

Both sides came from two goals behind to claim draws last weekend, and we would not be surprised if the two sides end up sharing the spoils once again on Saturday.

Neither team have impressed defensively so far this season but they have each shown they are capable of scoring plenty of goals, so we are predicting a high-scoring draw.

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