NEWPORT County AFC manager Warren Feeney admits the pressure is on after starting the new campaign with two defeats but he insists it is unfair to hark back to last season’s struggles.

Feeney has not tasted victory since March 12 and County are now on a run of 13 games without a win ahead of Saturday’s League Two trip to Leyton Orient.

But the manager argues that what happened last season is irrelevant and, having brought in 16 new faces this summer, he believes his new-look team should be judged on its own merits.

“I think there is pressure,” said the Exiles boss. “A lot of people talk about last season but my objective was to keep the squad up.

“I did that and it’s a fresh start now. People will always talk and look at it and it [the 13-game run without a win] is a fact but I am starting afresh with my own team and I don’t look at what happened last season.

“We did enough to get over the line and that’s all I was asked to do.

“Fans will always talk about it,” he added. “I don’t do social media but I keep hearing it if I meet people in the street.

“Football is probably the hardest job in the world that everyone will have an opinion on.

“But I came in after two managers and where we were my objective was to keep them up.

“I did that and if I wanted to keep all those players I would have, but I didn’t.

“It’s a big turnaround with 16 players [coming in] and it’s the second competitive game for the boys.

“There’s only Darren Jones who signed on and Joe Day is still here but it’s a new group of players and a fresh start – whether it was a new manager coming in at the start of the season or not.

“It was tough last year to get players out of a lull and I don’t think Houdini would have changed it.”

Feeney is remaining upbeat about the way his side has started the season, despite 3-2 defeats to Mansfield Town and MK Dons.

“Yes, we’ve lost the two games but I can see plenty of positives there,” he said.

“You can see at the moment I think we do have the right mentality.

“That’s all I focus on – that changing room – and I’ve seen enough to turn this around.

“I’m confident that these boys as we get working together and playing together we can turn this around.”