DEFENDER Fraser Franks admits he let down his Newport County AFC teammates with his recent red card at Crawley Town and he’s determined to make amends.

Franks returned from his three-game ban to help County to an FA Cup first-round win at Metropolitan Police FC on Saturday.

That was County’s first victory since October 13 with Franks missing the League Two draws with Bury and Morecambe and the defeat at Carlisle United.

His suspension coincided with injuries to Mark O’Brien and Scot Bennett and meant that full-backs Dan Butler and David Pipe have both had to fill in as centre-backs.

Franks told iFollow Exiles: “It’s been a frustrating few weeks for myself, not being able to be out there and helping the team.

“I feel like I let the team down not being available after the red card, then there were a few injuries as well so people had to play in different positions.

“If I wasn’t sent off then maybe we’d have done a bit better over the past few weeks.

“Maybe one thing that has come out of my suspension is that we’ve seen Pipey can play there [in central defence],” he added.

“[We’ve got] Mark O’Brien and Scot Bennett [back now] as well so [there is] good competition.

“We’ve let in too many goals and been sloppy – now we’ve got five to choose from, if people are going to be doing that then they won’t be in the team.

“It should give us a kick and give us the motivation we need to get better again.”

Franks was delighted to get back on the pitch against The Met and he’s looking forward to a good cup run.

“I’m really pleased to get back and a clean sheet and a win is all you really care about,” said the 27-year-old.

“Fitness-wise I felt fine and it was good to be back.

“It was really tough conditions and probably did have all the makings of an upset but I thought, after a bit of a sloppy start, we were professional and saw it through.

“It’s massive. The finances for any League Two team are important, you need these kinds of runs. The boys were lucky enough to have a good one last season, I’ve got to the third or fourth round in the past but never really drawn a big team before.”

County also hope to progress in the Checkatrade Trophy with a home win over Plymouth Argyle tomorrow night.

“I don’t think the club has progressed past this new group stage [since the tournament changed format],” said Franks.

“It’s just another bonus, as players all you want is game after game.

“It’s not a disruption, especially as we’ve got people coming back fit now. We’ve got a good squad and we’ll be going trying to win and ultimately get through.

“We’ve just got to focus on ourselves. Plymouth Argyle really could pick whatever team they want so we’ve just got to worry about ourselves and if we perform right, we’ll get the win.

“Plymouth haven’t long gone up to League One, so I don’t think there’s a massive difference in their quality and our quality.”