Newport County are in for a tough test against a Derby County side from a team above.

The Exiles have underperformed this term and their main focus will be on climbing up the league. Their relatively new boss Graham Coughlan, who replaced James Rowberry at the helm in October, has won 37.5% of the games he has taken charge of so far. His side lost 3-1 to MK Dons in the Papa John’s Trophy on Tuesday evening and he said afterwards that it was ‘disappointing’ and they failed to deal with set pieces which is something a tall Derby side will look to exploit. Injuries haven’t been kind to the South Wales outfit over recent times, with striker Offrande Zanzala still out with a hamstring problem. His presence is missed up front with Omar Bogle and Will Evans the most likely pair to start in his place once again, with the latter only managing two goals in League Two. Newport aren’t used to winning games, hence why they are sat down in 18th place, and although one could argue anything can happen in the FA Cup, that seems unlikely here. They have won just once in their last four league outings and have lost 10 out of their opening 19 matches this season which shows they struggle to contain opponents which will be found out against a team from the division above.

On paper, Derby should breeze past Newport. The Rams’ squad is littered with top quality options such as midfielder Conor Hourihane, attacker David McGoldrick and winger Tom Barkhuizen. They have a nice blend of youth in the likes of Eiran Cashin, Max Bird and Liam Thompson and the experience of Curtis Davies and Korey Smith. They drew 0-0 against Portsmouth at Fratton Park in their last clash which was a decent result on the road and manager Paul Warne said he was ‘happy’ with the performance. Winger Nathaniel Mendez-Laing is out injured at the moment but Derby have the strength in depth to deal with that with Barkhuizen, Louie Sibley and William Osula all proving to be useful players in attacking areas. They battered Torquay United 5-0 to get to the second round which shows they are taking the cup seriously this term. The Rams are no mugs and the fact they are only outside the play-offs in the third tier by a single point shows how strong they are.

Ipswich Town’s return to the Championship is beginning to feel inevitable. Second in the table currently, their gap to leaders Plymouth Argyle closed to two points at the weekend. The Tractor Boys are the third tier’s standout performers, sat in the perfect data bracket of strong attacking output and little defensive vulnerability. Kieran McKenna favours a 3-4-2-1 and has his team superbly coached in their positioning, with passing options always available in possession and pressing options always available when without the ball. Egyptian midfielder Sam Morsy has played in an integral part across the entire season, and whilst his regular midfield partner Lee Evans has been unavailable, 19-year-old Cameron Humphreys has stepped into the role and excelled. Leif Davis, Kane Vincent-Young, Kayden Jackson and Wes Burns all provide a depth of options in wing-back roles, Jackson also capable of operating up top instead of Freddie Ladapo or Gassan Ahadme. Ladapo has scored five goals in his last five matches. An unfortunate injury to attacking midfielder Marcus Harness is a setback for Ipswich. Conor Chaplin can still star there, but time will tell as to who steps up to fill that second attacking midfielder role in Harness’ absence.

Ipswich faced seventh-tier opposition in the First Round, and now face sixth-tier opposition at home in the Second Round. Buxton are at this stage of the FA Cup for a second consecutive season after beating Merthyr Town 2-0. Currently 18th in the National League North, the Bucks know the immense challenge ahead of them, but will certainly also see this trip to Portman Road as a reward for their hard work in previous rounds. Managed by Jamie Vermiglio, one of the key figures for Buxton could be Italian forward Diego De Girolamo. The 27-year-old scored five last season during Buxton’s FA Cup run and opened the scoring in the victory over Merthyr Town at the beginning of the month.

The match between Ipswich Town and Buxton presents perhaps the biggest mismatch of the Second Round Proper. This is League One’s standout team, at home to a side newly promoted to the sixth tier. Kieran McKenna showed in the previous round against Bracknell Town that he will be professional with his team selection and will go strong again here. There’s a chance that the Tractor Boys could cruise to a very comfortable victory on Sunday.