Matty Dolan: Captain gives Newport County a fitness boost

The captain went down in the first half of the opening weekend win at Oldham Athletic and left Boundary Park in a protective boot.

Dolan, player of the season in 2020/21 after moving from midfield to defence, went for a scan and County got the result they were hoping for.

The 28-year-old will miss tomorrow's League Two trip to Mansfield but should be available for next weekend's fixture at Tranmere Rovers.

BLOW: Matty Dolan is helped off at Oldham

Manager Michael Flynn said: "It's good news. Matty will probably miss tomorrow but will be available for next week.

"Ask Matty and he popped his Achilles, calf, hamstring and his knee, everything went wrong, so he is going to get a bit of a ribbing for that!

"It was just a grade one tear of his calf. When it first happened you fear the worst, especially with what happened with Courtney Senior when there was nobody around him.

"That was innocuous and he is out for six to nine months, so you fear the worst but thankfully it's not too bad."

County still have a number of fitness worries for the game against the Stags, which has been moved to Field Mill because of the Rodney Parade pitch work.

Forward Courtney Baker-Richardson is still missing after an injury suffered before the Oldham game. Flynn is keeping the specifics and the extent of the blow quiet to keep opposition managers guessing.

Defender Priestley Farquharson is a doubt after a blow at Boundary Park and Kevin Ellison limped off in the closing stages of the Carabao Cup win at Ipswich Town.

Flynn changed his entire starting line-up at Portman Road because of the niggles and will take no risks on the second weekend of a long season.

"There are still a few struggling and we are not going to risk anybody at this stage of the season. We will be very, very careful," said the manager.

"There are still a couple struggling. Me and Wayne [Hatswell, assistant coach] will speak about it and make a decision about it as late as we can tomorrow."

County did, however, prove that they had depth in the squad when they changed the entire starting line-up to take on League One Ipswich only to cause an upset thanks to Timmy Abraham’s deft finish in a 1-0 win.

They will need to be on their top form to leave Field Mill with something to show for their efforts against a side who have made strides since appointing Nigel Clough last November.

“It's going to be a difficult game,” said Flynn. “I think Mansfield will be up there this season after Nigel has had a chance to bring in his own players.

“It's tough over the course of the season, and it will be even tougher this year.

“There are a list of teams that have spent big and strengthened well, even the likes of Walsall, Port Vale, Leyton Orient then there are the usual candidates like Bradford, Mansfield, Salford, Exeter.

“They will all be there or thereabouts, it's a really competitive and tough league this season.”