Newport County's Tristan Abrahams targets starting spot at Colchester United

Abrahams demonstrated his undoubted unflappability once again on Tuesday night as he came off the bench to score with his first touch and rescue a point for County with a perfect penalty.

He was frustrated to be denied a winner in stoppage-time when he hit the post and saw another effort scrambled off the line by the Crawley Town defence.

But the 20-year-old hopes to get the nod to start at Colchester, with Jamille Matt the most likely to make way after being hauled off at half-time on Tuesday.

“That’s definitely the quickest goal I’ve ever scored and the best first touch I’ve ever had,” said Abrahams as he reflected on his fourth goal for the club.

“I always back myself from the spot and I am a confident penalty taker.

“When I came on, I knew I was going to take the penalty, so I just picked a spot and went for it. Thankfully, it went in.”

Manager Michael Flynn confirmed after the match that Abrahams is now the number one penalty taker.

Padraig Amond, who missed his last spot-kick against Port Vale, waited for his fellow striker to enter the fray and handed him the ball as he walked on.

“I appreciated that from Podge [Amond] for him to give it to me,” said Abrahams.

“It shows the group that we have here; everyone plays for each other and for the team.

“It was pre-arranged, he knew I was coming on to take it, and luckily, I scored.”

On those two opportunities to snatch a win at the death, the former Norwich City youngster said: “I was so frustrated at the end. I probably back myself to score both of them, but they didn’t go in. Hopefully they will next time I get the opportunity.

“I wanted to come on and make an impact. We’ve got a tight-knit group here, everyone is here to do a job for the team, so when I got the opportunity to come on, I wanted to help the team.

“I want to play every game possible, but I’m happy,” he added.

“We’ve got a good relationship between the boys. There are never any hard feelings if someone’s not playing – you’ve just got to come off the bench and try to do the best that you can do.”

Flynn said after the 1-1 draw that his team needs to develop a ruthless streak

The Exiles have the best defensive record in League Two but they’ve scored just 15 goals in 14 league games, with only three teams hitting the net fewer times in the fourth tier.

“You’ve got to keep working on it on the training ground,” said Abrahams. “It’s happened in a few games and we need to take our chances.

“We take a point. We know we should have taken three but we’ll work on that and we’ll go again on Saturday.

“We know what we’re doing but we try not to think about it too much.

“We take every game as it comes, just build on results and try to get as many wins as possible.”

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