Dack: Don't write off Newport

Jimmy Dack reckons his Newport side are back in the promotion hunt after their crucial win over play-off rivals Luton.

The Exiles are only outside of an all-important top-seven spot on goal difference after their first win at Rodney Parade since January 10. Striker Aaron O'Connor scored his eighth league goal of the season with a smart first-half finish to end a run of three games without a win for Dack's side. "It's a massive win," said the Newport boss. "There have been knockers saying we are out of the play-off race but that's great for us because it gives us more motivation. "It spurs us on because I know my group of players are really fighting for this football club. "It makes my job so much easier but we know there are a lot of tough games left to come. "We are in charge of our destiny and if we continue to win our games then we are in for a good season. We might not win them all but we will go out and give it a good go. "We have worked too hard over the last few years to throw it all away now without a fight. "It's not luck that we have been in and around the top half of the table for most of the season. We are a hard working team and everyone knows coming to our place is going to be tough. "Our support is fantastic and teams don't want to come here when it's like this. It's a tough place to come and hopefully it will stay like that until the end of the season." The 1-0 defeat was a fourth loss in a row for Luton, who have been beaten in six of their last seven outings in League Two. On-loan West Ham midfielder Elliot Lee and defender Luke Wilkinson both saw efforts hit the post for the visitors in the second half. Hatters boss John Still said: "I'm not pleased with the performance, it's all well and good saying we played better in the second half but it's not good enough. "I don't know why we are not good enough at the moment, we haven't changed anything but we are not playing well enough. But I am the manager and I have to take responsibility for it. "If I look at the game then if it had ended up that we got a win then you would have said that we did okay, but we can't settle for okay at the moment. "We've come a long way but at the moment we are falling short. "Everything that we do in training on a Monday to Friday is the same we have always done but we have players not playing to the level they need to and that is my responsibility."