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Newport County will keep their fingers crossed over the fitness of Noah Mawene after the Preston youngster was forced off in their defeat to Chesterfield.

The on-loan midfielder came off the bench 60 minutes into the 3-0 loss on Friday night - but only lasted eight minutes after pulling up after chasing a ball.

Head coach Nelson Jardim did not specify what the issue was with the 19-year-old, but said: “We will have to assess. I don’t know how bad it is, I don’t think it’s a big problem.

“He’s been a little bit fatigued. This level is a bit different for him to the experience he’s had before at under 21s with the intensity, he’s been doing well for us but we’ll assess and go from there.”

The game marked the return of Kai Whitmore, the midfielder coming off the bench in the second half for his first appearance since August following a calf injury.

The former Haverfordwest midfielder caught the eye with his cameo, and Jardim added: “Kai came back well and hopefully he can continue to improve his fitness because he’s a player we need at the moment.”

Meanwhile Jardim confirmed defender Matt Baker was rested for the game after his involvement with Wales Under 21s, adding: “He came back late and a bit tired and fatigued so the option was to give him a rest because the games and minutes are piling on and we have to be clever in the way we manage the players.”