NEWPORT County AFC manager Michael Flynn praised his players and the Exiles fans after a 1-1 draw at Carlisle United secured an 11th-place finish in League Two.

Padraig Amond headed in his 15th goal of the season seven minutes before the break to earn a point after Mark Ellis had put the hosts in front.

And Flynn was pleased with the performance at the end of a long campaign.

“I thought it was very good as an end-of-season game,” he said.

“The first 10-15 minutes were a bit worrying because I thought both teams were, let's say, not very intense.

“But they picked it up, we scored and I thought the players were excellent.

“It thought it was a very professional performance from the players.

“They’re a good bunch and they wanted to give the fans who travelled up something to remember from the last game.

“The fans were brilliant. They’ve been absolutely superb and 270 coming to Carlisle is massive.”

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Reflecting on the season as a whole, Flynn added: “It’s been a decent season.

“We’ve had a lot of highs and one or two lows but it’s been a massive improvement and that’s all we can ask for.

“The players have been brilliant. We’ve had two or three off days that were really disappointing but they’ve been superb over 50 games and they’ve kept it going to the end so I can’t thank them enough.”

Looking ahead to next season, the Exiles boss was asked if the play-offs will be the target.

“I don’t want to get carried away,” he said. “We’ve had a very good season and I just want to improve [again].

“We’ve finished in the top half, which is a great achievement for the players when you consider that for the last two years we’ve almost got relegated.

“It’s a massive improvement and that’s a credit to my staff, the players and the fans.”