ADAM Chapman admits Newport’s players are suffering with a crisis of confidence at their Rodney Parade home.

County are clinging to the League Two play-off berths after suffering a 1-0 home defeat to Mansfield on Tuesday, the fourth successive game at Rodney Parade where the Exiles have failed to register a victory.

And while their away form is keeping them competitive in the race for League Two promotion, Chapman admits the Exiles have to find more quality in the final third, especially in their home clashes.

“That is about as frustrating as it gets, it’s just, I don’t know what to say, we conceded a bad goal at the end, but it is one of them when if you don’t score, you invite that sort of pressure,” he explained.

“We know how football works, it doesn’t just happen to us, we see it all the time, if you don’t punish teams and take advantage when you are on top, you end up conceding a goal like that.

“We don’t blame the defenders for conceding, the goalkeeper and the centre half, we are more to blame for losing the game, the strikers, midfielders, full-backs, the ones doing the attacking.

“We are more to blame for not putting the ball into the net.

“When you are dominating you have to turn chances into goals and as a team and a unit, when you get in the final third, you have to create and score or you’ll leave yourselves at the mercy of a silly mistake.

“There is a fine line, we are getting in the right positions in the final third and we are getting the ball forward quicker, but we need to express ourselves better and make better decisions.”

Chapman admits there is now a fear factor.

“We’ve had a dip at home and it is hard to get out of, we want to win our home games for the fans and to build momentum,” he said.

“We are maybe playing with a little bit of fear and are waiting for that game when a couple of goals go in off someone’s backside and we win three or four nil and that will come.

“We just need to keep going and keep working and know we need to get on a run to get in the play-offs, effort and commitment won’t get us there, we need quality as well.

“I think we can find it, we had it in the first half of the season and the proof is in the pudding. We’ve still got it in the group, we just need to get our confidence back and play some more clinical and clever football.”

Chapman came as close as anyone to scoring for County on Tuesday, rattling the crossbar and forcing a superb save with two half volleys.

“I thought I had scored, I don’t think I’ve hit two shots that good all season,” he said.

“The first one the goalkeeper has pulled off a world class save and the second one I half expected to hit the crossbar three times, the way the game was going.

“When two volleys like that aren’t going in you think it is not going to be your night, but even then you have to hang in and make sure you hold on to get the point, but we didn’t expect to lose the game.

“The first one was better, the goalkeeper made an unbelievable save, adjusting his body to turn around the post. The second one looked like it was going in, but it is what it is.”