NEWPORT County AFC manager Justin Edinburgh is ready to let loan star Joe Pigott return to Charlton Athletic as he believes Aaron O’Connor is starting to recapture his best form.

The Exiles boss was unable to pick Pigott for Saturday’s FA Cup tie at Luton Town because Charlton insisted he would not be cup-tied unless the loan was extended.

And Edinburgh has now decided not to keep the striker beyond his initial loan period, which ends after the League Two trip to Bury on November 22.

Pigott also missed last week’s 2-2 draw at Hartlepool United through illness and hasn’t played since hitting a spectacular equaliser against Accrington Stanley on October 25.

O’Connor scored his second goal in two games on Saturday but his headed goal and Yan Klukowski’s superb half volley weren’t enough to prevent a 4-2 defeat at Kenilworth Road.

“We will have more discussions with Charlton this week but it looks like Joe might be going back now after his last game on November 22,” said Edinburgh, who was full of praise for O’Connor and Klukowski after the first round cup exit.

“I was pleased with Aaron and I think he is getting back to somewhere near his best now.

“It was a great strike from Yan and Azza’s goal was well worked too.

“I asked Yan to play in an unfamiliar role at the start of the game but it was a fantastic strike.”

Klukowski and O’Connor had cancelled out goals from Luke Guttridge and Paul Benson for the Hatters but late strikes from Ricky Miller and Jake Howells saw John Still’s men through to round two.

“I thought it was harsh for us to be behind once, let alone twice but when we got back to 2-2 I just felt that we allowed the game to become stretched,” said Edinburgh.

“We allowed it to become attack v defence and paid the price at the end.

“It hurts to go out because it’s a competition that we want to do well in,” he added.

“But our fans saw a courageous display. We pegged a good Luton team back for long periods and they’ll certainly know they’ve been in a tough tie.

“I think if we’d been well beaten there would have been real disappointment but we’ve gone toe to toe and we have to keep on pushing forward.

“We feel we should have had more from the last two games and we’ve got to use that to make sure we push on in the league now.”