WARREN Feeney says he’s tired of saying the same things to his players and to the media, and I for one am tired of writing the same things week after week as Newport County AFC tumble down the table.

The Exiles should stumble over the line to safety tonight, probably as a result of York City failing to beat Portsmouth rather than their own efforts against promotion-chasing Oxford United at Rodney Parade.

But Feeney has rightly demanded more hunger and desire from his players as they aim to halt a miserable run of six successive defeats, two goals in the last seven games and one point from a possible 21.

The club has announced that Tata workers will lead the team out tonight and it’s about time that the players showed some steel of their own.

There was precious little mettle on display as they meekly surrendered to lowly Stevenage in the first half on Saturday.

Feeney seems to be struggling to motivate a squad that has realistically been all-but safe for several weeks now, and it’s unlikely that things are going to improve between now and the end of the season.

Knee-jerk calls for the manager to be sacked from some frustrated fans should and almost certainly will be ignored by the board of directors.

He and John Sheridan have, after all, succeeded in keeping the club in the Football League – quite a feat given that Terry Butcher left the club rock bottom with just five points from 10 games in October.

Feeney enjoyed a superb start up to and including that 3-0 win at Portsmouth on March 12 with six wins in his first 11 league games, earning 20 vital points.

And, despite the alarming slump since, I’d agree with those who argue that Feeney should only be judged next season when he has a team that he can really call his own at his disposal.

But it’s clear that he needs to try something different – something to break up the routine and get the Exiles out of this rut they find themselves in.

I received a call from a County fan last week who wanted to deliver the team talk to the players in the dressing room at Stevenage.

Feeney politely declined the supporter’s kind offer when I put it to him at the weekly pre-match press conference on Thursday morning.

But, after watching yet another woeful performance on Saturday, the idea doesn’t seem so outlandish.

Why not let a passionate fan speak directly to the players?

Why not let him or her tell the team exactly what Newport County means to those who spend their hard-earned cash on following them up and down the country?

I decided to ask our @argusoncounty Twitter followers what they would say to the team if they had the opportunity and the responses were pretty much as you’d expect given recent travails.

Dan Williams said he’d tell the players to: “Go out there and earn the silly money you've been paid to under-perform consistently.”

Izzy Perry said she’d tell them: “Put some effort into it, like you want to win. Give it that last push and get that win for safety.”

Chris Herbert’s message was: “This is your last opportunity to prove you deserve to be here next year.”

James Stevens said: “If you had been three points from safety back in September I bet you'd all have bitten my hand off. Finish it!”

Sean Ryan said: “Go out and give 90 minutes of total effort, get three points and then, for most, enjoy the summer.”

Marcus May added: “Show how much you want to be here next season by putting in a decent display for our fans.”

Ryan Arscott had a novel idea, which probably puts too much pressure on me, proposing to tell the players: “Unless you get a six or above rating in the Argus, you ain't getting paid today.”

While Thomas Williams summed up the thoughts of many with the succinct message: “Show some [expletive deleted] passion.”

The danger is that the players, who let's not forget have earned the points to keep County in the League, would not respond well to that kind of confrontational tone.

But they do genuinely appreciate the support they get from the terraces and maybe it’s the sort of jolt that some appear to need.

Oxford will bring more than 1,000 fans to the game tonight as they try to cling on to their automatic promotion spot.

The County fans will need to make a lot of noise to be heard over the travelling supporters.

And the team need to put on a performance to give them something to cheer about.