Newport County will be without David D'Auria and Allan Stevenson for this afternoon's trip to Dr Martens Premier League rivals Grantham.

D'Auria has gone down with 'flu, while midfielder Allan Stevenson still hasn't recovered from his ankle injury.

It's another blow to a County side who are in the middle of a striking crisis on top of their injury one. Such is the extent of their injury problems that manager Tim Harris is in no position to call up replacements for his two missing midfielders.

Even so the Exiles boss remains philosophical.

"There's nothing we can do," said Harris. "We're stretched enough as it is, so we'll have to just cope with the squad we've got.

"D'Auria went down with the flu yesterday, and Stevenson's ankle hasn't quite mended yet so we're unlikely to risk him."

The loss of D'Auria is a particular blow to County who today face a Grantham side who are unbeaten at home this season.

"Like any team in this league Grantham will be a tough test," admitted Harris.

"They may have lost their main striker Jamie Clarke (who broke his leg last week), but their other striker Gary Bull is no mean player and they have a midfield which can certainly cause us problems."

Despite their recent troubles in front of goal, Harris has no plans to change the way his side is playing.

"We've played well, kept it tight at the back and create any number of chances every game," he said.

"It's just unfortunate that our strikers are lacking any conviction in front of goal. But sooner or later the tide will turn and we'll score enough goals to win games comfortably."

Newport County: P Mountain, A Thomas, B Clark, J Eckhardt, S Benton, S Cowe, N Davies, M Rose, S Walker, N Davis, G Shephard, M Fowler, T Hart, D Ryan, R Plant. l Former Newport County colleagues and directors and current club representatives were among those who thronged St Philip's Church, Newport, yesterday to say farewell to one of the clubs's most popular players.

A single Newport County flag and scarf bedecked the railings outside to mark the funeral of John 'Polly' Rowland.

Rowland, 66, who died suddenly of a heart attack last week, once completed a record successive number of matches for County and played 531 games between 1958 and 1969.

A tough and skilful half back and tireless worker, Rowland, who lived close to the former Somerton Park, was a Wales under-23 cap who always remembered his colleagues, and regularly visited them when they were ill.

He leaves married children Paul and Karen, grandchcildren Jonathan and Hannah and brother Lyndon.

l Building work to add a roof on Newport County's new terrace will start on Monday. Contractors will add a cover to the new terrace stand opposite the main grandstand. The £96,000 scheme has been made possible by a 90 per cent funding grant from the Football Stadia Improvement Fund.