Newport aim to repeat Brentford plan v Manchester United

The Exiles are no strangers to facing Premier League sides and earlier this season hosted the Bees in the Carabao Cup.

It looked like Mathias Jensen had stolen victory for the Londoners when he scored from close range in the 87th minute but Kiban Rai took the tie to penalties with his first professional goal deep in added time.

Brentford went through but endured a frustrating evening in Newport when limited to five shots on target.

That gives Coughlan’s class of 2024 hope of following their predecessors, who shared the spoils with Spurs, Brighton and Newcastle and beat Leicester, Leeds and Middlesbrough.

LEVEL: Kiban Rai celebrates after equalising for County against Brentford (Image: Press Association)

“Our organisation and structure has to be spot-on. We were spot-on that night against Brentford,” said the manager.

“We have to be better when we get the ball because if you keep giving it back to good teams, they will punish and hurt you.

“We limited Brentford to five shots on target, that was down to sheer work rate, attitude and commitment getting us through the 90 minutes.

“We will be reliant on luck, your goalie and all players performing to the maximum, if all that happens you can maybe keep the score down!”

County head into the clash in high spirits after beating Wrexham 1-0 in front of a packed-out and pumped-up Rodney Parade.

It promises to be raucous on Sunday evening but Coughlan, a Red Devils fan, doesn’t expect that to knock the Premier League side off their stride.

Manchester United's Scott McTominay heads over against Spurs at Old Trafford (Image: Press Association)

“They are Manchester United, they play in front of 75,000 every week. I don’t think that 9,000 here will upset them or knock them out of their rhythm,” he said.

“It’s a brilliant tie and a great game against probably the biggest club in the world and world-class players.

“It’s a great test for us and brilliant for the club, a great event and I just hope we can do ourselves justice.

“We will need to be better with the ball than we were against Wrexham, while Manchester United will be clinical and punish us if we give them chances.

“We will need to go up a gear but Wrexham has set the week up really nicely. You can’t help but go and enjoy it but we will need a lot of luck, inspirational performances all round, decisions to go our way, the break of the ball, our goalkeeper will need to play well, we will need to take our moments.”

“Our performance levels this season have been really good, it’s only been a few times when I have been unhappy.

“It’s just maintaining that. It’s a special week, go and enjoy it but give it a go and see what can happen.”