JOHN Cornforth celebrated his 37th birthday yesterday, but it was Lemsip and not champagne he was drinking as he spent the day trying to get over a flu bug that has swept through his side.

The new boss is in charge for his first Nationwide South game at Margate (kick-off 1pm) and already struggling as seven of the first team have been hit by the bug.

He said: "We are up against it a bit but my bug passed in about 24 hours so hopefully the lads will be the same.

"It looked grim at the start of the week, but is getting better and should be OK though we've still got a job to do.

"The club are professional enough to travel the day before and we have done our homework so will look to get a result.

"We had a good result last week (the 2-0 FA Cup win at Corsham) albeit against lower opposition and will have a bit of confidence."

Cornforth has settled into his role now and has been impressed with the players response to his appointment.

"The lads attitude has been fantastic on the pitch and in training and they are taking on board what I have been saying," he said.

Former Swansea captain Cornforth was especially pleased with the performance of old teammate Roger Freestone last Saturday.

He looks to be back to his best after a few hiccups in the opening weeks of the season.

He said: "Roger has had a bit of a sticky start at Newport but to be fair he knows that more than anyone. But he is a great goalkeeper and I thought he was outstanding against Corsham, and he has now set the standard for the rest of the season.

"He will be important, especially away because the first thing we have to do is make sure we get clean sheets and are hard to beat. If we can do that, we will have the perfect platform to build on."

The new boss says he already knows his budget for bringing in new players but that will not deter him putting his own stamp on the side.

He said: "I gave the lads a month to impress me and a week has already gone. I knew what the budget was before I took the job so that won't be a problem.

"Of course money is tight, but where is it not tight in football at the moment? I will be more than able to manoeuvre my way in the transfer market and if that means moving players on then so be it."

County squad (provisional): Freestone, L Phillips, Aherne-Evans, Davies, D Jones, Thomas, Morgan, Bowen, Coates, Moralee, Williams, Wilson-Denis, G Jones, S O'Sullivan, J Phillips.