WALES XV centre Andy Marinos is staying with Newport and is expected to sign an extension to his contract at Rodney Parade within days.

There has been concern about the future of Marinos as he has yet to sign up, but that is considered to be a formality.

He is settled in the area and is anxious to continue at Newport, even more likely now that former South Africa coach Ian McIntosh is joining Newport.

"While Andy has technically not signed an extension to his contract as far as I'm concerned he is black and amber and he's not going anywhere," said chief executive Keith Grainger, who is in Amsterdam with club owner Tony Brown for a Heineken Cup presentation.

"When we get back to Wales I'm confident he'll put pen to paper, he is absolutely not in dispute with the club.

"He is looking forward to working with Ian McIntosh."

The Argus can also reveal the Heineken Cup fixtures for next season. Newport have a difficult start with two away games in their first three fixtures. They open up at Newcastle on the weekend of September 28-30 and are in Dublin to face Leinster over the weekend of October 26-28.

But their first home match in between is a big one against French champions and past Heineken Cup winners Toulouse.

Television requirements will dictate whether the matches are played on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday.

Newport face back-to-back games against Leinster, meeting them at Rodney Parade on the weekend of November 2-4.

Their January pool games are away to Toulouse (January 4-6) and Newcastle at home (January 11-13).

Llanelli face a huge task in their opener at the Welford Road home of European champions Leicester.

The other three Welsh clubs are all at home, Bridgend against Harlequins, Swansea against Edinburgh and Cardiff against Northampton.

Heineken Cup fixtures: September 28-30: Newcastle v Newport; Leicester v Llanelli; Bridgend v Harlequins, Swansea v Edinburgh; Cardiff v Northampton. October 5-7: Newport v Toulouse; Llanelli v Perpignan; Bath v Swansea; Castres v Bridgend; Monferrand v Cardiff.

October 26-28: Leinster v Newport; Cardiff v Gloucester; Bridgend v Munster; Swansea v Biarritz; Calvisano v Llanelli. November 2-4: Newport v Leinster; Llanelli v Calvisano; Biarritz v Swansea; Munster v Bridgend; Glasgow v Cardiff.

January 4-6: Toulouse v Newport; Perpignan v Llanelli; Swansea v Bath; Bridgend v Castres; Montferrand v Cardiff. January 11-13: Newport v Newcastle; Llanelli v Leicester; Edinburgh v Swansea; Harlequins v Bridgend; Northampton v Cardiff.