NEWPORT County boss Dean Holdsworth has warned his players they must earn the Spytty Park party that comes with their championship coronation on Saturday.
The Exiles are expecting another bumper crowd for their final home game of the season with rivals Dover Athletic, Holdsworth’s champions picking up the Blue Square South trophy after Saturday’s contest.
However, following a shock 4-0 humbling at Havant and Waterlooville last time out, Holdsworth is desperate to see his players react in a positive way with the champions just three points short of reaching the magical 100 mark with two games left.
Just last month the Exiles celebrated in glorious fashion after securing the title, but the boss won’t allow any such scenes from his players without a much improved performance.
“Losing so badly at Havant was a kick in the guts, I’ve watched the video and it was ugly, it made for horrible viewing really,” he said.
“But we have the very best opportunity to put it right on Saturday; it’s a fantastic occasion for us.
“But at the moment, I don’t want to think about it, we’ll let ourselves enjoy the moment when it comes, but we have to perform or it’ll be tainted.
“We are unbeaten at home all season and are chasing 100 points and that should be our only focus.
“It can be party time here again on Saturday, but we need to earn it first with a much better display.
“We will be in an aggressive mood and I want the players to play the game and not even think about the occasion. We’ve earned it over the season, but need to earn it on the day as well.”
Holdsworth will also remind his players that there are future contracts still at stake.
“For some of the players, there haven’t been decisions definitely made for next season, they’ve still got a big chance to make their points and show me the best of them,” he said.
“We need to protect our home record and that should be a priority, the players have given me such major effort throughout the season and after a terrible performance, I want 180 more minutes of what I know they are capable of.”
Holdsworth also apologised to the travelling Amber Army for Saturday’s lacklustre display on the south coast.
“I thought the supporters were magnificent, they travelled in good numbers as they always do and didn’t deserve to see us play like that.
“However, for all that being said, if we only have one dreadful performance in the league in the whole of next season, I couldn’t really complain about that.”
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