Christian Fuchs calls for more from his Newport players despite ‘huge win’

Newport manager Christian Fuchs hailed a “huge win” for his side as they beat relegation rivals Harrogate 2-1 but warned his players that the job is not yet done.

A spectacular strike from defender Joe Thomas 12 minutes after the break earned County a vital Sky Bet League Two victory after Jack Evans had cancelled out Nathan Opoku’s early opener before half-time.

Fuchs’ men remain 22nd in the table but they are now four points clear of bottom two Harrogate and Barrow with three games left to play.

“It’s a huge win,” said the Austrian. “We knew the importance of the game and what was on the line.

“It feels really good. It’s a big relief to walk away with three points and I’m very pleased with the performance the boys put in.

“It’s a good step in the right direction, but we need to push on,” added Fuchs. “We need to keep going. There’s no chance to relax and lean back. We need to do more.

“I didn’t like that we fell back in the first half and were less aggressive, less intense and didn’t get the ball into the right areas. I know that the boys can play for the same intensity that we did in the first 20 minutes.

“There’s a lot still to work on and improve but, at the same time, we can really enjoy today’s win.”

Opoku confidently dispatched Ben Lloyd’s through-ball to give the hosts an eighth-minute lead at Rodney Parade, but Evans got his side on level terms six minutes before the break as he converted Jacob Slater’s cutback.

Right wing-back Thomas then made himself the hero with only his second goal for the Welsh club, a powerful 30-yard shot into the top corner.

“Some players don’t score so many, but when they score they are usually very important ones,” said Fuchs. “I’m very pleased for him.”

Harrogate remain bottom of the table and manager Simon Weaver admitted his side did not show the fight required.

“I thought Newport deserved their victory,” he said. “What decided it was a great shot from range from their lad, but it was more than that in my opinion.

“In terms of the overall performance, I thought they [Newport] played with more edge. That was the disappointing factor for us.

“We’ve been scrapping for our lives and I think we’ve improved dramatically since the window closed. But today we had a dopey start, we were second to most things and in a game of this magnitude I expected much more.

“None of us want to go down but the reality is that it’s a hard task ahead now. I’m not proud of that performance at all today.”