FC Halifax Town: "There's no reason why I wouldn't want to stay here as long as possible" - Loanee Newby starting to feel at home with Shaymen

The 25-year-old, who is on loan from fellow National League side Stockport County, scored his first Town goal in last Saturday's astonishing 7-4 FA Cup first round win over Maidenhead.

Seven of his eight appearances for Halifax have been as a substitute, but Newby has been happy to wait his turn.

"I've had to be patient because the team's been successful before I came here, so I've got to understand that, and understand that when the team's doing well the manager's not going to change it too much," said the attacking midfielder.

"All I can do is be patient and when I am given the starts that I feel will definitely come, just keep doing what the manager wants me to do in whatever role he wants, whether it is coming off the bench in some games, that's fine, or if it's starting, playing a different role and working hard like some of the lads have been doing, that's also something I'm capable of.

"Obviously I didn't play a lot of games before coming to Halifax at all, so I don't think I expected to be coming straight into the team and be playing 90 minutes, because fitness-wise I probably wasn't 100 per cent match sharp and ready to go.

"But definitely now I'm feeling fitter and stronger as I've had some opportunities off the bench, so I definitely feel I'm building that fitness and I'm ready for whatever role the manager wants me to do."

Newby was a regular for Stockport towards the end of last season but was pushed down the pecking order this campaign, prompting his loan move to The Shay.

"I've really enjoyed it," he said of his time at Town so far. "Obviously when I came in the team had already had a really good start to the season which makes it a lot easier to settle in.

"I've found it really easy to settle in, the manager's been really good with me, all the lads are brilliant, and the fans are class as well.

"The way we play, everyone knows their jobs on the pitch and you can tell the manager's been here for a couple of years because he's got his ideas and across and everyone knows what they're doing, it's black and white what everyone should be doing and there's no-one off doing something on their own, everyone's on the same page."

Newby's balance, close control and link-up play has seen him slot seamlessly into Town's style of play.

"That was one of the reasons I wanted to come here, and one of the reasons the manager wanted to bring me in, was because the way they play fits the way I want to play," he said.

"I can play in either wide position, behind the striker or midfield so there's lots of different roles I can play.

"I do really like the way the team plays, I think it really suits me.

"There's lots of people offering for the ball all the time when the ball gets played through the midfield.

"It's not a case of being expected to do a job you're not capable of.

"The patterns of play in terms of working the ball through the thirds and working it wide.

"Obviously we don't have a big centre-forward so it needs to be built up on the floor and played through rather than launched upfield, and that definitely suits me the way I want to play, I want the ball to feet, be able to dribble with it and link with the other players, who are on the same wavelength as me."

Newby is highly thought of by Town's coaching staff, with Pete Wild and Chris Millington delighted to take the opportunity of extending his loan until January 2 when his initial month's spell had come to an end.

"They're really down to earth people, really nice lads," Newby said of Town's management team.

"When they need to be, they put their foot down but they're nice, normal people.

"There's a good mix of people on the coaching staff, obviously the manager's quite methodical in what he does, does a lot of the tactics, and Milly's really good with that as well, and Milly's a livewire, he gets round the lads.

"In the changing room, the togetherness is good and you can tell that comes from the manager and Milly.

"In terms of the way I play, they obviously identified me as someone who could fit in to the team so they know what I can bring in terms of going forward, what I might offer the team from an attacking sense is probably more the tactical side of how the team sets-up in and out of possession, they spoke to me about that straight away and you build understanding up through training every day and preparing for matches, you build an idea of tactically what you're meant to be doing and where you're meant to be at certain times."

With starts hard to come by so far at Town, Newby admits the fans are yet to see the full picture of what he can do.

"They've seen some good glimpses of me I think, I've not had loads of minutes yet so I've certainly not been able to show everything that I've got, but I'd like to think I've been able to show some good signs of what I can do," he said.

"Of course I want to build on that and show more and more signs every game that I can affect games, help us bring the ball forward, help us be an attacking threat, set goals up, create chances, chip in with goals as well.

"I definitely think I've shown signs of that and I definitely want to continue doing that and hopefully that can help the team winning."

And Newby said he wants to stay at Town for as long as he can.

"I've really enjoyed it so far so there's no reason why I wouldn't want to be here," said the former Barrow, Telford and Chorley player.

"Obviously I've come to get some more games and I am getting more game time and I'm helping the team so there's no reason why I wouldn't want to stay here as long as possible, because I am enjoying it, I feel like I fit into the way the team wants to play.

"I know I'm going to keep getting opportunities to play, which is what I want to do, be able to show the fans what I can do and help the team.

"Can we be up there in the league, can we keep going in the FA Cup, that's what I want to be part of, so I'm happy here.

"From what I've seen, I think if we keep to our levels, keep to what we're good at, then there's no reason why we can't keep beating teams and picking up good results.

"That's the way everyone's thinking. No-one's speaking about anything else, it's just week-to-week, how can we keep improving and keep getting the good results and keep building and building."