Jardim: Newport County too emotional in loss to Port Vale

The Exiles suffered a nightmare afternoon after losing influential right wing-back Shane McLoughlin to a calf/knee injury in the third minute and then going down to defeat.

They trailed 2-1 at the break after a well-crafted goal by Aaron Wildig – the captain’s third in three games – was sandwiched by strikes by Jayden Stockley.

The second half was a nightmare for County with Ethan Chislett profiting from a mistake by teenage defender Nelson Sanca swiftly after the restart and then Lorent Tolaj sweeping in a fourth.

Things got worse with Ciaran Brennan sent off for a confrontation with Ben Garrity and then his fellow centre-back Kyle Jameson was dismissed to kicking a ball in anger into the away end.

They will both be suspended for Saturday’s trip to winless Swindon and James Clarke is injured, although Matt Baker will return if he comes through Wales’ Under-21s’ Tuesday fixture unscathed.

Newport County regroup after conceding against Port Vale (Image: Kian Abdullah/Huw Evans Agency)

“Everything that could go wrong did go wrong,” admitted Jardim. “From the beginning I had to take Shane McLoughlin off and you don’t want to change your back five. Straight after that they scored.

“We have to stay positive and look at what we have achieved so far [this season]. We have come a long way and there is a long way to go with a completely new squad full of young boys.

“You could see that we have a lot to improve, especially in controlling our emotions. We were too emotional and the sending offs were down to that.

“We know that we haven’t been perfect – I said that last week [after the win at Morecambe] – and it’s about us getting together to improve for the future.”

County were still in the game at the start of the second half but Vale’s quickfire double changed the mood, and the hosts lost their heads.

“That third goal put us in a bad place because it happened very early in the second half, then we didn’t manage the game as we should have,” said Jardim.

“Just as I was about to make a couple of substitutions there was the first sending off that affected how I was going to do things.

“It was a bad day at the office and we knew that having a lot of new, young players that would happen. I would rather lose one game 4-1 than four in a row.”

Brennan had a confrontation with Garrity on the floor and was shown a straight red despite it just appearing to be handbags.

The summer signing from Sheffield will be suspended for three fixtures.

Jameson was shown a second yellow when he kicked a loose ball into the Bisley Stand when County were being frustrated by away supporters preventing them taking a quick throw-in.

“I am not discussing the decisions, I just want to make sure my players don’t do it again because if they do then they probably will not have another chance. It’s about making them learn from the mistakes and improving,” said Jardim.

County must wait for news on McLoughlin after the Irishman went down in the opening exchanges, clutching his knee/upper calf.