Aaron Collins ready for play-off tussle with brother Lewis

The 23-year-old helped the Gloucestershire side cement a top-seven finish with a double in the 3-0 win at Oldham on Saturday.

The reward is a semi-final against the Exiles, where he came through the ranks to earn a move to Wolves before a return on loan in 2018.

It is a tie that means that one Collins will be at Wembley at the end of the month – Aaron will line up against younger brother Lewis.

The 20-year-old forward has enjoyed a breakthrough campaign in senior football with five starts on the spin and a first goal.

Aaron said: “Mum and dad will be happy, now they can watch me and my brother on the same pitch rather than watching two games!

“Newport is my hometown club and I am looking forward to it but whatever team we had, I was looking forward to it because I am confident in the team and think we can go on to get promoted.”

Aaron Collins in action for County

Rovers, like County, had a wobble that led to their hopes of automatic promotion being dashed and even put their play-off hopes at risk.

They got back into the top seven on penultimate weekend when Salford slipped up and stayed there on final afternoon.

It was goalless at Boundary Park at half-time but Forest Green scored three after the break with a Collins scoring a penalty and a breakaway goal either side of an assist.

“That was a performance where we knew that we had to win and look what we did, we won 3-0. Now we can carry that on into the play-offs,” he said.

“The pressure was on, we knew that we had to win the last two games. We know that in the next two games, we have to win both of them because we want to be at Wembley and get promoted.

“We deserve to get promoted by the way that we have been all season but we have let ourselves down towards the end but we have got another chance.

“We will go in full of confidence now. We have beaten Tranmere, who are in the play-offs, and went away to Oldham needing to win and did it 3-0.”

Interim boss Jimmy Ball believes Forest Green are hitting their straps in preparation for Newport.

“That result, and getting in the play-offs, is nothing more than everyone deserves at the football club,” he said. “That’s the staff, the players, and of course the fans.

“We’ll now head into the play-offs in the right groove – we’re in good form and that’s a perfect position to be in.

“We were a bit edgy in the first half, a bit nervy for 20 or 25 minutes, but we changed the shape and matched them up, and after that I just always felt a goal would come.

“We kept going into the second half and showed that hunger and desire you need, and we got there in the end.

“I always knew we’d get a goal, so to get two so quickly after one another like we did, that just knocks the stuffing out of the opposition.

“We’re confident heading into the Newport game and, if we execute like we did at Oldham, we’ll be just fine.”