JOSS Labadie will continue to undergo his rehabilitation for an anterior cruciate ligament knee injury at Newport County AFC, despite not agreeing a new deal to stay at the club.

Labadie, who is expected to be sidelined until October at the earliest, has been a free agent since his County contract ended on June 30.

Exiles boss Michael Flynn wanted the 27-year-old midfielder to stay at Rodney Parade and is still hopeful that he can be persuaded to sign a new contract but there has been no progress on that front in recent weeks.

“Joss is a free agent,” said Flynn. “He’s left the football club but he’s somebody who I would love to see back in the shirt for Newport County.

“There’s nothing happening [at the moment]. I’ve showed him how much I value him – I made him the captain when I took over – and he’s somebody who I’ve got a lot of time for.

“He’s going to continue to do his rehab here. The club are supporting him and I think it’s the right thing to do.

“It shows that there’s no animosity between myself and Joss or between the club and Joss.

Asked if he would keep working on Labadie to try to persuade him to stay, Flynn joked: “Yeah, I’ve invited him round for dinner a few times but I think the screaming kids have put him off.

“He’s obviously a bit down at the moment being out with his injury but he’s doing well with his rehab.

“Anybody who’s had a bad injury like that will know that you do have your dark days before you see the light at the end of the tunnel but hopefully he’s breaking through a few barriers now.

“He’s great around the players and he’s hard working, day in and day out but he’s getting older now,” added the manager.

“He’s getting towards the late 20s and he’ll definitely need to take advice on board in terms of [taking care of himself in] training.

“But if it’s in you, it’s in you; you want to win and that’s one of his biggest attributes.”