Interviews

Michael Flynn pre Grimsby Town

5th February

Manager Michael Flynn is hoping his new January signings can help Newport County AFC get their Sky Bet League Two campaign back on track.

County are without a victory in their last eight league fixtures having endured a tricky run of results since the turn of the year, with their last victory coming against Grimsby Town at Blundell Park on December 8.

Flynn brought in eight additions - Jack Evans, Jake Scrimshaw, Luke Gambin, Anthony Hartigan, Dom Telford, Priestley Farquharson, Nicky Maynard, Aaron Lewis - during the transfer window in a bid to help his side get back on track. 

The window slammed shut at 11pm on Monday night, with Maynard the last through the door in the final hour prior to the return of Lewis, who re-joined as a free agent the following day.

And Flynn is now hopeful that his latest signings can help reignite County's promising form that saw them set the pace at the top of the table in the first half of the campaign.

"Nicky is someone that I’ve been working on all month and I’m delighted to get him in," said Flynn.

"We’ve already seen the quality of his movement and his finishing in training has been excellent. It just depends whether he's up to speed to be involved tomorrow.

"We let Robbie [Willmott] and Tristan [Abrahams] go. As Robbie fills in a lot of positions, Aaron is more than capable of doing that as well. He was unfortunate at the beginning of the season because of the form that the team was in. He's come in, looks really fresh in and trained really well on Wednesday.

"If they hit the ground running, it doesn’t make a difference over who comes in or how many come in. I think Luke Gambin has done himself no harm in the way that he's started."
 
The Exiles' winless run since the fixture at Blundell Park has, however, seen them pick up some credible points along the way, having earned away draws against Cheltenham Town and Salford City, who they also earned another point against in the reverse fixture despite going down to 10 men.
 
County will be aiming to return to winning ways against Grimsby on Saturday but will have to do so against a new-look Mariners side, who have also brought in new additions and swapped manager Ian Holloway for Paul Hurst.
 
"We want to get back on track as soon as possible because we are in a fantastic position," added Flynn.
 
"Yes, it could be better but I would have taken this. When we were right at the top I certainly wasn't getting carried away because things like this can happen.
 
"I want to try and get the three points against Grimsby and it's going to be difficult.
 

"They’ve got new signings and a new manager, so it’s not a given. This is where we will see the fighting spirit of every club in all the leagues.

"You will get some surprise results, I just hope that we are not on the back of any of them.”

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