Both sides are struggling to find a winning recipe before Tuesday night's League Two showdown at Rodney Parade.

The hosts are coming form an impressive draw against Chesterfield trying to secure their 3rd spot leading to straight promotion, as Max Porter bagged the equaliser seven minutes from time. That was the former AFC Wimbledon midfielder's first goal of the season in his 16th appearance.

The draw was particularly impressive if you take the Ironsides' form into account; in 2014 they have only one two games from a possible 18, shipping 30 goals in the process, most in the league. And one of the games they actually won was against against Torquay, where all signs point towards the Conference. If only the calendar year applied, Newport would've been bottom of the table, despite their decent start of the season.

Interestingly, Newport have a 4-11-5 record against the top half this season, which might hint of another draw in this encounter? Particularly when taking into account that Plymouth struggle to win games at this time as well.

On the absence front, Adam Chapman is suspended due to a straight red card against Portsmouth on 29th March. The defender has been a vital figure in Justin Edinburgh's back line this season, appearing on 42 occasions.

Basically thanks to this game in hand from gameweek 29, Plymouth still have a fair chance to grab a play-off spot. However, if that's going to happen, they Pilgrims better sort out their form instantly, as their 2-1 win against Chesterfield is their only win in their past five games.

Manager John Sheridan's  untraditional 3-5-2 system was unable to get anything from the Pirelli Stadium at the weekend, when Burton clinched a narrow 1-0 victory. That was Plymouth's third straight game without a win, so anything else than three points against Newport will basically but their play-off hopes to bed.

"It's down to the players", the manager states at their official website, and subsequently denies that the 3-5-2 is the reason behind their recent failures. “No-one can tell me anything about system and players – every time we’ve won away from home, I’ve played that system; every time we’ve had a good performance. Everyone knows how to play it.

Pilgrims' first choice between the sticks, Luke McCormick, is still unable to play after fracturing his finger in the 1-1 draw against Mansfield in february.