GOALKEEPER Joe Day is determined to make his 200th appearance for Newport County AFC an occasion to remember today as he aims to atone for last week’s afternoon to forget against Yeovil Town.

Day, who made his first appearance for the club back in August 2014, is set to reach the landmark at Tranmere Rovers this afternoon as he and his County teammates attempt to bounce back from the 6-0 hammering against the Glovers.

The 28-year-old stopper wants to make amends at Prenton Park and celebrate his personal milestone with a clean sheet.

“I was as disappointed as anyone last week,” said Day. “My personal performance was nowhere near good enough. It hurts a lot and you rely on your mental strength to get over that. All we can do is make sure we put it right.

“We know we can defend well, we have defended well, and Yeovil was just one of those games.

“You can over-analyse everything but it was a blip and we have to make sure it stays as a blip.

“We’ll stick together as a group and get back to what we’ve been doing.

“But I know words can be cheap so we’ve got to make sure we do our talking on the pitch.”

Despite last week’s horror show at Rodney Parade, County are still third in the League Two table and Day is convinced that they can enjoy a successful season.

“We’ve got a really good group this season,” he said. “The bond in the dressing room is as strong as I can remember it being here and the standard we’ve set ourselves is the best it’s been since I’ve been at the football club.

“I take confidence from that and I think we can go on and have a good season. This group of players are the ones who’ve put this good start together and we’ve got to bounce back and make sure a good start turns into a good season.”

Reflecting on his four years at the club, Day added: “I’ll be really proud to get to 200 games. When you’re at a club for so long I think you become a fan of the club and Newport County is a big part of my life now.

“When the club became fan-owned I got involved as much as I could. I signed up as a Trust member and I felt like I could be part of something.

“I’ve been living here since I signed permanently. I moved down with my wife and my little boy was born in Abergavenny so South Wales definitely feels like home to us.”

On Day’s landmark, manager Michael Flynn said: “It goes to show the level he’s been at. People might say we haven’t had a number two goalkeeper. We’ve got one now.

“But if he was bad then managers would have felt the need to bring in a number two to challenge the number one.

“I think Terry Butcher was the only one who did that and Joe played straight after that.

“It’s a credit to the standards he’s set since he’s been here and he’s somebody who I’ve got a lot of time for because he’s a great professional.

“He does everything right day in and day out and hopefully he gets what he deserves – a win on his 200th appearance.

“It’s an emotional rollercoaster at Newport County and I think Joe has handled it really well,” added Flynn.

“He’s had a lot of different managers but now he’s got a bit of stability and he’s enjoying his time here.”