Preview: Newport v Wrexham

Newport County and Wrexham will fight it out for the final place in the football league when they meet at Wembley in this afternoon’s Blue Square Bet Premier playoff final (KO 1500).

It is the second time both sides have played at the home of the English FA in the past year with both reaching the FA Trophy final in consecutive seasons.

Newport came away from that game ultimately disappointed as they went down 0-2 to York City while Wrexham had an all-round happier experience in March when they beat Grimsby on penalties to lift the trophy.

This time round though the prize on offer is an all more important one, with an estimated £750,000 waiting for winner as they re-enter the Football League for the first time in many years.

Wrexham fell out of the league in 2008 and have since struggled to find a way back in whilst fighting off the threat of going out of business.

Newport have become more accustomed to life outside of the top four divisions given their 25 year absence since they were relegated in 1988.

Both sides arrive at Wembley off the back of impressive semi-final displays against Kidderminster and Grimsby.

Newport’s 2-0 aggregate win against Grimsby saw over 6,500 fans fill their Rodney Parade home. Christian Jolley built on Ismail Yakubu’s first leg header to secure The Exiles passage to London this afternoon.

Wrexham had arguably the toughest of the semi-final meetings as they eased past a Kidderminster side that had dropped just four points in their previous 18 games 5-2.