FORMER County midfielder Lee Fowler believes the Exiles are a near certainty for League Two promotion this term, despite being part of a side that smashed four past them.

County were dumped out of the FA Cup by Kidderminster Harriers on Saturday with former Wales U21 midfielder Fowler in sensational form, displaying his full range of passing as Newport were put to the sword, at one point trailing 4-0 before two late Robbie Willmott goals.

Fowler enjoyed two seasons with the Exiles and admits he still follows the club closely and expects them to have a great season.

“At the end of the day, Newport are a club we are looking emulate, they went up and they’ve started brilliantly in League Two and that’s the sort of thing we are aiming for,” Fowler told the Argus.

“They play good football, like we do and I follow Newport closely.

“I told the lads it was a good game to try and win because County have only won, is it one in nine away from home?

“But at home it’s a fortress and we knew that, but having followed them from afar and seen them close up, I am sure Newport are going to get promoted to League One.

“They are strong, they’ve got talented players and outside of the Premier League or Championship you won’t find a better manager than Justin Edinburgh. They are a quality team.”

Fowler, amazingly, is now on club number 15 since his debut for Coventry City in 1999, but he’s protected an amazing record.

“It was a game we knew we could win, it wasn’t so long ago we were in the same division as Newport and that belief was key,” he added.

“It’s never especially enjoyable to beat an old team, especially if you enjoyed your time at the club, but my record still stands, I’ve never once lost to a former team of mine and it is quite a few clubs as you know!”

County boss Edinburgh admitted his side let themselves down with a lack of composure at both ends of the field.

“I can’t blast the players and say Kidderminster were miles better or totally outplayed us, because that isn’t how I saw it,” he said.

“I can’t say my players didn’t compete or anything like that because I bet we’ve had more shots, more chances and more possession than them.

“But we didn’t show the composure that we needed to and we felt almost insulted to be 2-0 down and we were pushing too much for a goal and we got caught and went 3-0 down.

“We lost sight of still being in the game at half time and though we didn’t lie down, the game is gone at 3-0.

“We had probably twice the amount of chances Kidderminster did, chance after chance, but we have to be more knowledgeable and show a bit more composure at both ends of the field. We looked a bit immature on Saturday.”