STRIKER Padraig Amond insists Newport County AFC cannot simply turn up at Cambridge United on Saturday and expect three points just because they have a “little hoodoo” over them.

The Exiles are currently on a six-match winning streak against their League Two rivals, while Amond has scored four goals in the last three meetings between the sides.

County’s excellent run dates back to December 2017 and a 2-0 FA Cup triumph at Rodney Parade, while successive 2-1 victories followed as they completed a league double over the U’s.

Last season saw Michael Flynn’s men beat United 4-1 in the EFL Cup thanks to an Amond brace, and then record 4-2 and 3-0 League Two wins with the Irishman on the scoresheet in both.

Like County, Cambridge began the 2019/20 campaign last weekend with a draw, theirs coming away at relegated Bradford City.

While Colin Calderwood’s charges failed to find the net in a 0-0 stalemate, County, despite being held by Mansfield Town, did at least hit the target twice, the second an Amond penalty.

But even though it is all County in the head-to-head record over the last two years, Amond, 31, knows relying on recent history for three points this weekend just isn’t going to cut it.

“The difference this time is that they had the same players over the two-year period,” he said.

“There’s quite a few who have moved on, and the same with us, we’ve had a lot of change. It’s a clean slate for the Cambridge lads. We do have this little hoodoo against them but there’s no point building it up too much.

“We know exactly what’ll happen if we turn up and think we’ve won the game before it has started.

“If we play like we did in the first 45 minutes (against Mansfield), we have a great chance.

“We need to make sure we work as hard as we can this week in training, do what the gaffer asks us to do, follow the game plan completely and we’ll win the game.”

There were plenty of positives to come from the 2-2 draw with the Stags.

However, the Exiles, as Amond points out, won’t want to start making a habit of throwing away leads.

He added: “It’s just about making sure we don’t have that blip. If they get one, we need to make sure it’s not two. We’ll have a good look at the game again and work to see what we can do against Cambridge.”