NEWPORT County boss Justin Edinburgh admits this is the lowest point of his tenure at Exiles manager, but has backed his squad to get back to winning ways.

County were in cruise control at Morecambe on Tuesday night, 1-0 up and playing as well as they had in weeks before a controversial penalty and red card for Tom Naylor turned the contest completely.

Edinburgh admits that his players have taken a real blow in terms of morale and confidence but he believes they can turn it around.

And he’s more than happy for angry fans to turn their attention to him, rather than his players.

“We have had a long discussion as a group, and it is a group, it’s not about any one individual and we understand we have to look at the run we are on, without being scared of it,” he said.

“We need some points sooner rather than later and to get back to winning ways, but that won’t come from us pointing fingers or laying blame.

“The buck stops with me. That has always been the case.

“I know we will get through this. It’s going to be tough, it’s a bad run, by far the worst we’ve experienced since I’ve been here, but we will learn from this and it’ll only make us stronger.

“The players are extremely low," he added. "They’ve got pride and it’s tough for them to take, but we are doing OK, even if people will criticise me for saying that and laugh at me or frown at me, but I know we’ve got more than enough in that dressing room to turn it around and get back to winning ways and collecting points.”

Edinburgh spent over an hour with his players and then talking with the referee after a contentious evening at the Globe Arena.

“From where I was, I didn’t feel it was a penalty," he said. "I’ve spoken to the referee and told him that.

“Even if it was a foul by Tom Naylor for the penalty and I don’t think it was, there were players covering and the red card seems very harsh, a collision like that shouldn’t warrant a red card."

However, Edinburgh can’t accept the manner of County’s capitulation following Naylor's sending off.

“We’ve had six or seven minutes of madness where we’ve lost our concentration and we’ve gone from being in control of the game to out of it completely,” said the Exiles boss.

“At half time we were in control, I thought we looked good but one incident changed the game and the only thing I criticise the players for is not giving us a chance to regroup and stay in the game. We can’t have that.”