NEWPORT County AFC manager Justin Edinburgh believes Tom Naylor and the rest of his players will bounce back on the road after two disappointing home matches.

County followed up last week’s dour 1-1 draw with Mansfield Town with a shock 3-2 reverse to Morecambe at Rodney Parade on Saturday.

Naylor scored two own goals and conceded the winning penalty as the Shrimps fought back from 2-1 down to take all three points.

Edinburgh was left frustrated by his side's Jekkyl and Hyde display but he has backed his players to respond in the right manner when they travel to Exeter City next Saturday.

“I’m not going to try to kid anyone; if you give goals away like that you’re going to lose games,” said the Exiles boss.

“The second goal rocked us and then we conceded a needless penalty.

“Tom will learn from that. It’s one of those days for him. He’s been excellent for us since he came but everything that could go wrong went wrong.

“Good players bounce back and I’ve no doubt that is what he’ll do because he’s a very good player.

“You don’t always learn from playing well,” he added. “You learn from your mistakes. It’s the first time we’ve had a setback as a group this season and it’s about how we bounce back now.”

County are now 12th in League Two and without a win since August 17 but Edinburgh still believes that his side is settling in well to life in the fourth tier.

“I’m not concerned at all,” he said. “It’s one defeat in four. You always want to spin it round from a negative into a positive.

“It’s the first defeat we’ve had here since Kidderminster (in March). We’re disappointed but we’re not down and we’ll look to bounce back at Exeter.”

Edinburgh was also pleased with new signing Billy Jones, who scored with his first touch in the third minute before Robbie Willmott put County 2-1 up.

“He was composed,” Edinburgh said of left wing-back Jones. “It was a great strike and he got some very good balls into the box so I’m delighted with his performance.

“First half I think we looked good but Morecambe didn’t have to work too hard for their goals and we know that we can defend a lot better and be more clinical in attack.”