Life on the road leaving County feeling flat – boss

MIKE Flynn admitted Newport County’s travels caught up with them in a shock defeat at Port Vale, but he then challenged the Exiles for one last big effort before the international break, writes ALEX BYWATER.

Flynn’s side were beaten 2-1 at Vale Park on Tuesday night. Home goals from Tom Conlon and Devante Rodney rendered Jake Scrimshaw’s second-half equaliser irrelevant. It was another long away trip for County following recent visits to Tranmere, Colchester and Morecambe.

“I thought we started slowly. If you look at it, it’s understandable as it was our fourth away journey in two weeks and there have been some long journeys,” said Flynn.

“In the second half I thought we were the better team, we got the goal, and I thought we would go on and win it then but we conceded what i

“s a soft goal from our point of view. We’ve had five weeks of playing every Saturday and Tuesday, but the players have been superb and as long as they continue to give everything, the ball could still be in our court because of the teams we’ve still got left to play at home.

“Because of where Port Vale are and where we are, people would have expected us to win. Port Vale came out of the blocks really well and you have to give them credit for that.

“But the goals we conceded were not great. We huffed and puffed late on. Ryan Taylor hit the bar before we got the goal, but then we tried to force the issue which is not what we wanted to do.

“I can’t fault the effort because they kept going and worked hard.

“There are going to be a lot of speed-bumps and ups and downs along the way, but we’ve got to regroup now and go again on Saturday which is an important game.”

County are still fourth in League Two and remain very much in the promotion hunt. They face Leyton Orient at Cardiff City Stadium on Saturday. After that, County will have a much-needed break.

Flynn hopes to have striker Nicky Maynard back for Orient after he missed Port Vale with a neck injury, but the news isn’t as good on left wing-back Ryan Haynes.

“It’s a big game on Saturday. We want to get back on track and the 60 points is the next target,” said Flynn. “We know we’ve got a two-week period without a game so we want as many points as possible.”