Newport County have made a name for themselves as one of the EFL’s biggest ‘giant killers’ in recent seasons, and striker Padraig Amond has made a habit of scoring vital cup goals in recent seasons, too.
With goals against Leicester City, Manchester City, Middlesbrough and Tottenham Hotspur in previous seasons, no one can deny that Amond appears to thrive on the big stage.
Speaking on this week’s Carabao Cup Magic Moments show, the Newport striker reflects on the win against Watford in Round Three, making more history with the club and Newport’s Round Four tie against Premier League side Newcastle United.
Michael Flynn’s side caused the upset of the round by beating Watford 3-1 to reach Round Four, putting in a clinical performance against the Championship side.
"We knew that we had a chance of causing an upset,” Amond said, speaking on the Carabao Cup Magic Moments show.
“Any side - especially when playing at home - can cause an upset in a cup competition, and we’ve had a good start to the season so we did fancy ourselves a little bit, and we put in a good performance and won the game.”
Amond played his part in the victory too, getting on the scoresheet with a well worked goal.
"I was delighted to be involved in the goals myself as well,” he continued.
“The ball came across to me and thankfully I was able to finish into the bottom corner. I think the goal came at an important time for us too, because they’d put a bit of pressure on us just after half-time so we needed that goal.
"If they got one they could have quite easily come back into the game, but I think my goal killed the game off and we were very professional in the last 15 minutes to get the win."
Michael Flynn’s side have seen off South Wales rivals Swansea City, Cambridge United and Watford to reach Round Four of the Carabao Cup, and in doing so wrote their name into the record books, reaching the last 16 for the first time in the club’s history.
Anyone looking at Newport’s cup exploits of recent times wouldn’t bet against another upset tonight either, as they welcome Newcastle United to Rodney Parade.
"There’s a core group of lads who have been here for the last four years or so and have been involved in making history every year!
"I don’t mean it in an arrogant way, but it seems to happen all the time for us which is brilliant. We’ve made history in every competition we’ve played in since the gaffer took over which is a brilliant thing, so we might as well see if we can go one step further again tonight.
"It’s a big game to look forward to, it’s on TV as well which is great for the club. But we’ll definitely be trying to create a little bit more history against Newcastle and see what happens.
"We’ve got a good record when the TV cameras come here, we’re hoping there’s a chance of an upset and I hope we don’t disappoint other people who think there’s a chance of an upset too.
"As long as we put in a good performance, there’s no reason why we can’t just see what happens, but we’ll make sure we don’t let ourselves down."
Newport’s Round Four tie against Newcastle can be watched live on Sky Sports at 5.30pm tonight.
However, whilst clubs operate at a zero or reduced capacity as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, all Carabao Cup Round Four ties are available to watch on Sky Sports or online (UK only).