Cambridge United remain unbeaten in Sky Bet League Two following a second consecutive clean sheet and 0-0 draw against Newport County at the Abbey Stadium.

George Maris replaced the suspended Liam O’Neil in central midfield, with Sam Smith the U’s only other change in place of Andrew Dallas from the opening fixture at Bradford City.

Jabo Ibehre stabbed the first opening of the game wide on 14 minutes, when Luke Hannant’s set piece delivery swirled in the strong wind and bounced off Paul Lewis, which was awkward for the U’s striker to divert on target eight yards out.

The chance brought United to life for a spell though and they quickly carved out another opportunity as the rain began to drive down at the Abbey. Kyle Knoyle’s cross from the right caused Newport issues in their own area but Sam Smith was unable to generate enough power with his header to trouble Tom King.

Hannant showed a sharp turn of pace to dart inside midway through the half and work room for a shot from just outside the area, which deflected off a defender and had King scrambling across his goal line, only for the ball to dribble wide.

A clearance by George Maris shortly before the half an hour mark fell perfectly for Joss Labadie to hit a volley on the swivel for the visitors, which Mitov hurled to his left to protect his bottom corner, as the shot fizzed wide of the target anyway.

The biggest disappointment of the U’s first half came three minutes before the break when Kyle Knoyle took an awkward tumble from an innocuous challenge, in which the right back was up-ended and forced to leave the field with a shoulder injury.

The U’s found some early joy down the left side of the pitch in the second half, with Dan Jones twice forcing Tom King to produce smart saves to intercept a pair of deliveries that had caught the attention of Jabo Ibehre and Sam Smith.

Luke Hannant forced the Exiles shotstopper into a save ten minutes into the half, with a firmly struck wind-assisted attempt which King palmed wildly away with both hands.

The U’s introduced Marc Richards and Andrew Dallas on 70 minutes with the early offensive momentum of the second half having slightly faded.

Padraig Amond remained a danger for United to keep tabs on, but the striker couldn’t direct a volley from close range on target when Newport substitute Tristan Abrahams had got the better of Greg Taylor and picked out the Exiles forward.

It was Hannant who looked the likeliest to register a winner for the U’s as the game approached its conclusion, but the midfielder dragged his and United’s final chance beyond King’s right post with a bobbling effort from outside the area.

Dimitar Mitov displayed excellent concentration minutes before the end of the game, to thwart former U Robbie Willmott whose powerful flash shot at goal wasn’t enough to beat the Bulgarian, as the game finished goalless.

Cambridge United: Mitov, Knoyle (Davies, 42 mins), Taft, Taylor, Jones, Lambe, Lewis, Maris, Hannant, Ibehre (Richards, 70 mins), Smith (Dallas, 70 mins)

Bookings: Lewis

Newport County A.F.C: King, Haynes, Labadie, Howkins, Willmott, Dolan (Abrahams, 60 mins), Amond (Bennett, 74 mins), Sheehan, Matt, Demetriou, McNamara

Bookings: McNamara

Attendance: 3,949 (224)

Man of the Match: Dan Jones