Nelson Jardim Credits Summer Overhaul for Newport County’s Defensive Improvement

Nelson Jardim attributes Newport County’s enhanced defensive record to the dedicated efforts of his squad since his arrival at the club in the summer. The Exiles achieved only one clean sheet in their initial 12 League Two matches of the season. However, they are set to play Wimbledon on Tuesday night (19:45 GMT) having kept opponents from scoring in four of their previous five league fixtures, with Tranmere Rovers being the only League Two team to score against Newport during that timeframe. Following a substantial restructuring at Rodney Parade over the summer, Jardim believes his team is now starting to benefit from increased time spent together on the training ground. “With all of these changes, there were a lot of things we had to work on,” said Jardim. “But that shows we’ve improved on that side of the game. “We know that invincibility lies on the way that you defend. If you defend well you are hard to beat, we’re trying to do that.”That is down to the work that we’ve been doing and the effort that everyone is putting in.”