GOALKEEPER Lenny Pidgeley is aiming to put to bed the worst moment of his Newport County AFC career in the FA Cup tomorrow night.

Braintree Town come to Rodney Parade for a first round replay following the 1-1 draw in Essex and Pidgeley wants to avoid a repeat of last season’s cup nightmare.

The Exiles number one is determined to play despite the imminent birth of his second child, which is due today.

And he wants to bury the memory of 13 months ago when he conceded a needless penalty to help lowly Yate Town knock the then Conference leaders out of the world’s oldest cup competition.

Pidgeley was criticized by manager Justin Edinburgh after the match and lost his place in the side to Alan Julian.

“I’m my own worst critic and that was a year ago but I remember mistakes I made three or four years ago,” said Pidgeley.

“I was disappointed by the penalty I conceded against Yate. It wasn’t a footballing mistake, it was a bad decision when I pushed the guy.

“That was sink or swim for me after that,” he added. “I came to a team that wasn’t expected to do much but I played 18 games and we were top of the league.

“To get dropped after one bad game was very disappointing. Obviously Justin had signed Alan Julian and needed to give him a game but that’s all history now.

“I got back in the team and the season ended well. But it was tough. Four or five years ago I might have gone the other way and not really cared but it did mean a lot.

“I worked hard, kept my head down and got back into the team.”

Pidgeley says the incident helped bring him closer to the manager.

“Me and Justin bonded over that,” he said. “We had a couple of talks in his office.

“I wasn’t happy but he can deal with me now. He knows what to say to me, what works and what doesn’t and our bond as a player and manager got a lot stronger after that.

“It worked out well and finished with a happy ending so maybe he was very clever!”

Pidgeley is confident of getting past Braintree tomorrow night and earning a second round tie at Kidderminster Harriers.

“We were desperately unlucky not to go through after the second half at Braintree with the chances we had,” he said.

“But with the form we have at home and if we play like we did against Portsmouth and Hartlepool then you’ve got to say we’ve got a great chance to go through and play Kiddy in the next round.”