THERE are few better ways to ingratiate yourself with your new supporters than by belting home a wonder goal on your debut, but County winger Romone Rose is promising the Spytty Park faithful that they haven’t seen anything yet.
The former Queens Park Rangers flyer admits he doesn’t want to hang around at Conference level for too long, but is determined to shine at Newport and impress enough to make a return to the Football League.
And on first impressions you wouldn’t bet against it after Rose scored a quite stunning debut goal in Tuesday’s 4-0 FA Trophy win over Carshalton Athletic.
“As soon as I came on I was looking to make my mark and scoring a goal like that should help,” he said.
“The goal I scored is certainly up there with my best and I would say it’s in the top three I have ever scored.”
The 22-year old is part of a growing core of young players at Spytty Park and while admitting he sees County as a stepping stone, Rose is confident the Exiles are on the right track and was desperate to join Justin Edinburgh’s revolution.
“A move to Newport County came about because I knew a few of the lads already at the club and they said I should come down and check the place out,” he continued. “Ryan Charles had a word on my behalf with the gaffer and he invited me to training. He liked the look of me, I proved myself so they signed me and I was thrilled to come here.
“I was out in Thailand but I thought that it wasn’t going to do much to develop my game or enhance my reputation. I enjoyed it out there, but I wanted to come back to the English game even if I had to start out in the lower leagues and work my way back up.
“There is a lot of quality here and we shouldn’t be battling against relegation with the quality we have here, surely not. We should be up there fighting to go up and we aren’t playing like a team fighting relegation.
“I had been at QPR since I was 14 and my aim is to get back up the leagues. You have to aim high. I believe I am good enough to play in the Championship or higher but I need to prove that with Newport.”
Manager Justin Edinburgh confirmed that Rose has fitted in nicely at County but the player himself confesses that moving to Wales isn’t quite the adventure he is used to.
“I came here after a spell in Thailand, at Robbie Fowler’s club Muangthong United, and it’s a bit different to Newport to be fair, playing in Thailand,” he joked.
“I lived about 30 minutes outside of Bangkok and it was completely unique in terms of the culture. I think experiencing that will make me a better player, it makes me more focused on making my mark in the English game because it was very up and down out there.
“The standard of football in Thailand is excellent, I would compare it to maybe Champion-ship level over here.
“The heat was obviously quite novel. In many ways it was a great experience, especially working with Robbie Fowler and playing abroad has helped me to grow up.”
Rose is hopeful of a start at Stockport today and believes the hosts will be surprised by new look County if the match goes ahead after an 8.45am pitch inspection.
“We have a good core of young players and that is important, we have everything to prove and nothing to fear. I think the youngsters the gaffer has got in are adjusting well. I think it’s positive that he is building the team around players with pace and power and we head into every game now with confidence.”
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