How County’s big season finale stacks up

SATURDAY’S FINAL GAMES

■■Cambridge United (2 – 77pts) v (24) Grimsby Town;

■■Crawley Town (12) v (3 – 76pts) Bolton Wanderers;

■■Morecambe (4 – 75pts) v (14) Bradford City;

■■Southend (23) v (5 – 72pts) Newport County;

■■Tranmere (6 – 72pts) v (20) Colchester United;

■■Oldham Athletic (18) v (7 – 70pts) Forest Green Rovers;

■■Exeter City (8 – 69pts) v (21) Barrow; ■■Salford City (9 – 68pts) v (11) Leyton Orient.

MICHAEL Flynn reckons his Newport County side have dropped 27 points through individual mistakes this season and will be telling his players there is no margin for error at Southend this weekend.

The stakes are high going into the final match of the regular season with a play-off place tantalisingly close. One point will seal the deal, but there is still a chance they could be overtaken and squeezed out of the top seven.

It is a weekend for nerves of steel and calculators. County currently sit in fifth place and must finish in the top seven to extend their season.

This is what could happen on Saturday:

■ Newport could climb as high as fourth if they beat Southend and Morecambe lose

■ A Morecambe win could see them clinch an automatic promotion place and push either Camrbdige or Bolton into the play-offs

■ If County get at least one point then they will be guaranteed a place in the play-offs

■ Newport could drop out of the top seven if they lose and Tranmere, Forest Green and Exeter win

■ Southend were 1-0 winners at Rodney Parade on 9 February and, despite being relegated, are bound to watch to finish their season on a high. That makes them a dangerous opponent with nothing more to lose.

“Southend beat us here and they are a good team even though they’ve been relegated. It means we will have to play as we would in any other game,” said County skipper Joss Labadie.

“We’ve hit a good bit of form at the right time of the season and we want to maintain that. We are positive about getting a result against any team in the league.”

The 96th minute winner for Exeter City at Bolton kept County waiting for confirmation of their play-off place and proved that the season, just as it did during the ‘Great Escape’ campaign, will have twists and turns right to the final whistle. The good thing for Flynn as he goes to sleep each night this week is that his side are on a run of four cleansheets and four games without defeat. Having just beaten the top team in the league, Cheltenham Town, they should be ready for anything this weekend.

And if they do go into the play-offs, what chance of going one better than their extra-time defeat to Tranmere Rovers two years ago?