‘I’m lost for words’ - James Rowberry hails ‘excellent’ Newport County in ‘brilliant’ Carabao Cup triumph over Portsmouth

The Exiles head coach also admitted he’s been waiting a long time to get his first big cup win since he took over at Rodney Parade.

His side put on a strong performance edge the Blues 3-2 in South Wales, as the Fratton Park outfit were knocked out of the Carabao Cup in the second round.

While the victory left Rowberry more than pleased, Danny Cowley was far from amazed with his side’s showing, which brought to an end their unbeaten start.

Despite a first half double from Ronan Curtis, a spirited second period showing saw Newport complete the turnaround in the 75th minute to seal the triumph.

Indeed, the County head coach was ‘lost for words’ after the victory and believes his side were excellent against Pompey, which has seen his men book their place in the third round of the competition.

He told the South Wales Argus: ‘I’m lost for words. The players were outstanding, they were brilliant, and I can’t speak highly enough of them.

‘I thought they were excellent tactically and this group is so resilient. That’s something we worked on throughout pre-season with our culture – going through adversity – and we do that a lot.

‘It just shows the strength of our squad and the strength in depth that we’ve got. It’s hard for me now because I’ve got to pick an 18-man squad at the weekend.’

The Exiles have been well-known for producing cup upsets in recent years with Leicester, Watford, Swansea and Luton all falling to defeat at Rodney Parade in recent years.

With Pompey becoming the latest side to join that list, Rowberry was pleased to finally get his first big cup victory under his belt after taking over the reins in October.

He continued: ‘I’ve been waiting for one for a long time, I’ve been envious of it, and I’ve wanted to be part of it.

‘I never had a good cup run at Cardiff but now we’re starting to get a run together.’