Mike Flynn says nothing less than Newport County AFC’s best will be enough to secure a favourable result against high-flyers Bury FC at Rodney Parade tomorrow.
Shakers manager Ryan Lowe has received a lot of praise this season for his attacking philosophy and the Greater Manchester outfit are two goals shy of a century in all competitions.
“I expect a very, very tough game,” Flynn affirmed.
“They’ve got a good young manager in Ryan Lowe and some very, very talented players.
“Bury FC are up near the top for a reason and that’s because they’re a good team.
“I say this week in week out but nothing less that our best will be enough.”
The main part of the attacking attitude from the Shakers comes from Danny Mayor, who was named within the League Two team of the season.
His teammate Jay O’Shea also made it into that side with Lowe also named manager of the year at the EFL Awards.
“Danny Mayor is the best player in the league in my opinion,” Flynn said.
“He’s an exceptional talent and I don’t know why he’s not playing higher. He could be happy with family life, I don’t know.
“But for me, with the ability he’s got, he should be playing higher. And that’s the biggest compliment I can give him.
“They’ve got a lot of good players so it’s going to be tough.”
In the reverse fixture back in October, the two sides played out a 1-1 draw with Nicky Maynard and Jamille Matt trading the goals in either half.
“I thought Bury FC were excellent last time,” Flynn continued.
“But we’ve played some other good sides since. Colchester away were good, Forest Green Rovers were good at our place and Swindon were very good last week too.
“Look, those three teams I’ve mentioned are all going for the play-offs and they are the teams which have caused us the most problems.”
County are still in with an opportunity of ascending into the League Two play-offs come the end of the season and the gap remains at five points with a game in hand on the teams above.
Flynn said: “What is good this season is there’s nobody cut adrift or relegated already. Only one team has been promoted so far.
“It’s a very, very tight division and there’s ten teams going for the play-offs.”
The Exiles will head into the game with a lot of confidence after the commanding 3-0 victory at Cambridge United last Saturday.
“It was a really good performance which gave us three points,” Flynn concluded.
“That’s it really. We moved on straightaway and it’s another big weekend in-front of us.
“We’ve definitely got to win three out of the five.
“There’s still a long way to go and we’re just hoping that other teams slip up. Otherwise we won’t get close enough.
“Every game left is winnable but they’re all losable as well. There’s different pressures on the other teams – going for automatic promotion, relegation etc.
“Different games but ultimately we have to treat everyone the same and concentrate on ourselves.”