MICHAEL Flynn believes Newport County AFC were the better team against Morecambe last night but admits they were not ruthless enough to claim all three points.

Ben Tozer’s 14th-minute opener was cancelled out by a Michael Rose penalty on 77 minutes and County couldn’t find a winner at Rodney Parade.

Substitute Shawn McCoulsky almost earned a fifth successive 2-1 win in the final minute but he was denied by Morecambe goalkeeper Barry Roche and Flynn knows his side need to be more clinical.

“I’m disappointed,” said the manager. “I thought it was two points dropped and the manner in which we conceded the goal wasn’t good enough.

“I think it was a penalty but what disappointed me was the mix-up between our two players, which led to the through ball.

“I thought we were comfortable but we’ve got to be more ruthless in the box with the amount of crosses we’re putting in.

“It’s a pity we didn’t get the three points. Don’t get me wrong – it wasn’t the best football in the world. But for the majority of the game the performance was better than Morecambe’s.

“We’ve just got to be a bit more clinical and ruthless at both ends of the pitch.

“We need to be more ruthless on Saturday because we’re not going to get that many chances against Spurs.”

The 2,736 home fans were frustrated at the final whistle and Flynn felt the atmosphere at Rodney Parade was low key in comparison to what he expects for Saturday’s FA Cup clash with Tottenham Hotspur.

“The players gave me their all but you could tell it was the one before Spurs,” he said.

“I don’t think that had any impact really but there was just that feeling around the place.

“I don’t think it affected the boys one bit because I felt we were the better team for the majority of the game.

“They had a 10-minute spell in the second half where they were a little bit on top but apart from that we were the better team by far.”

The draw saw the Exiles move up to eighth in League Two – one point below Mansfield Town in the final play-off spot having played a game more.

“We’re disappointed we didn’t get the three points but I think we’re getting a little bit carried away if we’re expecting to win every game – it’s not going to happen,” added Flynn.

“We’re still unbeaten [in 2018] and we should have won the game.

“It’s another point on the board and we’ve just got to keep going.

“Don’t tell me the teams above us are going to win every game.

“We’ve just got to make sure we do better than one or two of them.”