JAMILLE Matt has loved every minute of his first season at Newport County AFC, but he’s adamant that the journey is not over yet.
The striker scrambled in an equaliser three minutes from the end at Morecambe on Saturday to secure a place in League Two play-offs.
It was his 20th of the campaign and without a doubt the most important, but Matt insists he and his teammates are not resting on their laurels.
County host Mansfield Town in the first leg of their play-off semi-final on Thursday night (kick-off 7.45pm) before the return leg at Field Mill on Sunday (kick-off 6pm).
And Matt insists the Exiles will give everything they’ve got to shoot down the Stags and make it to the Wembley final on May 25.
“It’s been a massive journey from the start to now, but it’s not finished yet,” said the 29-year-old front man.
“We want to keep riding it, finish it off properly and try to get promotion now.
“We’ve got into the play-offs, but that’s all we’ve done at the minute.
“We need to draw a line under it now and recover for Thursday, because we have to go again.
“The job’s not done yet. Attention turns to Mansfield now.
“When the big games come around nobody is tired and nobody is feeling aches and pains,” he added.
“The mentality will change and everybody will be ready to go on Thursday, I can assure of that.”
County were beaten 3-0 at Mansfield on the opening day of the season back in August, but they did win the return fixture 1-0 in February.
And, while the East Midlands outfit have lost their last three games to slip out of the automatic promotion places, Michael Flynn’s men have put together a 10-match unbeaten run to claim seventh spot.
“It’s definitely going to be a tough game,” said Matt.
“They’ll be massively disappointed not to go up automatically because they’ve been a very good team this season.
“They are one of the best teams we’ve played, so they’ll be disappointed.
“It could affect them, but they’ve got great players and they are up there for a reason.
“David Flitcroft is a great manager and I’m sure he’ll pick them up and they’ll be ready for Thursday, as we will be.
“The momentum is definitely still with us,” he added.
“We know we can beat anyone on our day in this league. We’ve shown that this season. We’ve just got to go in with that belief.
“I don’t think many teams will want to play us with the momentum we’ve got.
“We’ve just got to keep that belief and, with the fans behind us, we’ve got a great chance.”
Read more: How to get your tickets for Newport County's play-off semi-final
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