Newport County manager Michael Flynn won't make changes for the sake of it after 5-0 defeat at Mansfield Town

County are down to 12th in League Two – seven points below the play-off places – after successive defeats at Lincoln City, Colchester United and Mansfield.

They return to Rodney Parade for the first time since the 1-1 FA Cup draw with Tottenham Hotspur when they host fourth-placed Notts County tomorrow afternoon.

Flynn was unhappy with the performance of the whole team at Field Mill and also critical of the defending at Lincoln and Colchester.

But he is not prepared to drop anyone unless he has a replacement ready to improve the team.

“I’ve always got a licence to make changes,” said the Exiles boss.

“I don’t mind making changes when needed, even if we win.

“But the boys who I put in have got to be up to a level in training that is better than the ones who are on the pitch at the moment.

“If they’re not then why would I put them in?

“If I feel that a couple have pushed on and they deserve a shot then I’ll put them in.

“You can overreact and drop five or six but, if I’m brutally honest, there’s not five or six who’ve been up to the level on the training ground of the ones who have been playing.

“I’m not going to put them in if they’re not doing it day in and day out because you don’t know what you’re going to get. But there is scope for changes.”

Flynn is aware that some supporters are demanding a shake-up but he is clear that he will not be influenced by anyone outside the dressing room.

“I’m not interested in what they’re saying on social media,” he said.

“Everybody is a football manager these days and, while I respect that they’ve got an opinion, they don’t come in see the way the lads work in training.

“Fans are entitled to their opinion but I’ll make the decision who I feel deserves to play on Saturday.”

He also dismissed the suggestion that any individual is guaranteed to start every game.

“Of course they’re not,” said Flynn.

“Some people have said I’ve got a few favourites playing and there is all kinds of rubbish I’ve heard over the last few weeks.

“I’m sure those favourites are the ones who drew with Tottenham so they’re not doing too bad.

“And there’s been a few who have come in and come out so it’s not as if it’s been the same players.

“Matty Dolan, Ben Tozer and Scot Bennett have all been in and out and Mark O’Brien is not in at the moment so there a few things to look at and that’s what we’ve been doing since Tuesday night.”

January signings Paul Hayes, Josh Sheehan, Emmanuel Osadebe, Aaron Collins and Tyler Reid have had limited game-time so far and Flynn admitted that Reid (above) is “not ready for 90 minutes.”

He explained: “I had a chat with Tyler and he’s a great kid.

“He’s not fat, trust me. He’s absolutely ripped but he’s a bit heavy. He’s too big for his body at the moment, muscle-wise, and he needs to find a way to improve his endurance fitness.

“He did well for 45 minutes at Colchester but he did fade pretty badly and it’s something that we’ve been working on since then.

“In training he’s fine and in reserve games he’s fine but it’s a bit of a culture shock coming from a Premier League academy to League Two.

“Our own academy and academies around the country have got to make sure that they’re ready for the real thing because it is a big difference in tempo and the amount of time you get to recover.”

Flynn, coach Wayne Hatswell and management consultant Lennie Lawrence discussed Tuesday’s defeat with the players on Wednesday.

“We had a good meeting, it was positive,” said the manager.

“There was no point carrying on the negativity of the night before – we know it wasn’t good enough and we looked to address some things that we thought needed addressing.

“We didn’t make them watch the full game. We used clips and talked through those points.

“They’re an honest group. The players know when they’ve not done themselves justice.

“They don’t need telling but I just thought there was a few things that we could point out and rectify ready for Saturday.

“I’m expecting a positive performance.”

The Exiles have gone six games without a win in all competitions but Flynn says they have still overachieved so far this season.

“There’s no concern whatsoever,” he said. “If we win tomorrow we’ve already got more points than we got in the whole of last season and we’ve already got more points [now] than we did the season before so I’m not worried one bit.

“We are where we are. We’ve overachieved at the moment and we’re still in the top half of the table so I’m not concerned at all.”

Asked if his side was still in the play-off race, Flynn said: “Of course we are. We’ve lost heavily but we only lost ground on one point.

“I’m not delusional; we need to get back to winning ways and I’m not even thinking about the play-offs [at the moment].

“I’m just thinking about getting back to basics and getting back to winning ways.”

Not that he’s expecting an easy afternoon against Kevin Nolan’s men.

“They’re a good team,” he added. “They’ve been up there all season and it’s going to be a tough game.

“All these games until the end of the season are going to be tough because nine out of ten of them are fighting for something – either to stay up or to go up.

“Last season we were fighting to stay up and we upset a lot of teams so there will be a lot of twists and turns.

“I just hope we get some consistency together and we’ll see where it takes us.

“I want us to get back to doing the good things we’ve been doing all season and I’m sure that will hold us in good stead because, let’s be honest, we’ve done pretty well this season.”