NEWPORT County's last trip to Essex, when they faced Hornchurch last month, turned into a fairly tasty affair, with crunching tackles, brawling coaches and of course, plenty of anti-Welsh taunts from the home supporters.

And today's return visit down the M4 should be no different as County take on Nationwide South title-chasing Grays (kick-off 3pm) but defender Lee Phillips wouldn't have it any other way.

"It is always the case when Welsh clubs go away in England, especially to London, and to be honest I think that the boys will relish it," Phillips said.

"All that stuff is nothing new and it doesn't bother the players. They are a bit proud of it to be honest.

"The London matches are also fiercely competitive which makes them even more enjoyable.

"You get these types of games week in week out in the Conference, where we want to be eventually, and it is a good learning process for the young lads."

Phillips admits that the pressure is slightly off for County today as Grays, with 22 full-time players, will be massive favourites, but he insists that they can return to south Wales with rewards for their efforts.

"We are quietly confident that we can sneak something but we have to be realistic and think that it will be extremely tough and anything we do get will be a bonus," he said.

"It could be a busy afternoon for the boys at the back, but then again, most weeks are!

"We seem to have done well against the bigger sides in the league and slipped up against sides like Carshalton the other week, when we have gone expecting to get a result.

"The last time we played Grays we lost but it was down to individual mistakes and not because we were opened up.

"That has been the story of the season really but we have began to tighten up in the last few months."

He added: "I think that we have had a more settled back four and that has been a big difference and also the form of Darren Jones, who has been massive for us recently."

With Nathan Davies and Andrew Thomas back from suspension, manager John Cornforth has some tough decisions to make as to starting line up and formations, according to Phillips.

"I think because it is Grays the manager has some decisions to make as to who plays and what formations we go for.

"The boys who came in last week did very well and Nathan and Andrew have been doing well also but obviously they will go out and attack and we will need to work out how best to play against them.

"But we are looking forward to it and it will help us if the pitch is good because we can match anyone's passing game."