Newport County will be without Kai Whitmore will be absent for The Exiles’ next game according to manager Nelson Jardim.
The news comes as a further blow to the club as they are already short in midfield options, with Aaron Wildig out for the rest of the season, whilst Kieron Evans will be absent for the next month.
Jardim Optimistic Despite Blow
The Exiles have been running a makeshift midfield partnership of Cameron Antwi and defender Shane McLoughlin in recent games following Whitmore’s absence from a leg injury since their win over Barrow at the start of the month. Speaking about the squad’s condition ahead of their game against Bradford City, Jardim said (Quotes via BBC):
“Kai is unavailable for the game. The rest of the squad is looking okay, we still have one more training session to go but it is all about recovering.
“We have to keep the momentum going, but we have to keep focused on what we are doing. We were not bad when we were losing games, and we have not been that good when winning, it’s little things.
“The most important thing is we have a good group of people working hard every day and sometimes football just goes your way.”
It is a matchup between two of League Two’s form sides, with Newport on a four-game winning run and Bradford winning all but two of their games since the turn of the year.
Writer’s View
Newport County will have a very big test this weekend against a Bradford City team whose midfield have been shining over recent weeks. Their makeshift midfield sprung a brilliant result against Crewe Alexandra and have held strong over recent games. Antoni Sarcevic, Alex Pattison and Richie Smallwood have been the standout figures in The Bantams’ side since January so arguably this will be the hardest test both Cameron Antwi and Shane McLoughlin have faced since becoming the central partnership for the Welsh club. With the way The Exiles have ground out results as of late, they could yet again secure three points against a promotion-chasing side.
