JUSTIN Edinburgh has gone but the pain goes on for Newport County AFC.

What a difference four weeks can make.

After beating Portsmouth 1-0 at Rodney Parade on January 10 Edinburgh’s side surged up to third in League Two and automatic promotion looked a genuine possibility.

Since then it’s been nothing but misery for the Exiles and their fans and the club’s hold on a play-offs spot is looking more tenuous with every match.

A 4-0 defeat at Cambridge United, which could have been six or seven, was followed by an equally alarming 3-0 loss at Northampton Town.

Then came a slightly unfortunate 1-0 reverse at home to Shrewsbury Town last week in what proved to be Edinburgh’s final game in charge.

And there was no magical revival under Edinburgh’s assistant Jimmy Dack at AFC Wimbledon on Saturday as goals in either half from Adebayo Akinfenwa, who also had a penalty saved by Joe Day, saw the hosts claim a comfortable 2-0 win.

County also had defender Kevin Feely sent off for good measure on a day when they extended their goal drought to more than 400 minutes – nearly seven hours of football.

It’s clear that the Edinburgh to Gillingham saga, which began with a casual aside from pundit Steve Claridge on the Football League Show in the early hours of January 11, has derailed County’s season.

Whether Dack is the right man to put the promotion push back on track remains to be seen.

He and coach Wayne Hatswell certainly seem to have the full backing of the players and they’ll need it because things could very easily get worse before they get better.

The parallels with the departure of Dean Holdsworth four years ago are striking.

Just like Edinburgh, Deano was a highly popular promotion-winning manager who left the club under something of a cloud for supposedly greener pastures.

On that occasion it was Tim Harris who took the reins – an experienced football man who, like Dack, had the full respect of the dressing room and the best interests of the club at heart.

It didn’t work out for Harris as County failed to recover their early season momentum and Anthony Hudson was brought in before the end of the campaign.

The Exiles board will be hoping that history doesn’t repeat itself and it is far too early to make any sort of judgment on Dack’s credentials.

He stayed loyal to the same starting XI that had matched the high flying Shrews and kept the familiar 5-3-2 formation.

And the players showed plenty of spirit at the Cherry Red Records Stadium in Kingston.

It would have been easy for their resolve to crumble after Akinfenwa’s opener after only 11 minutes – a powerful header that gave Day no chance.

But they responded well and were on top for most of the remainder of the first half.

Mark Byrne twice went close but strikers Aaron O’Connor and Chris Zebroski didn’t really have a sniff and County were generally toothless in front of goal.

And ten minutes after the break the game was up for the visitors.

Feely tried to recover after his pass out of defence was intercepted but could only hack down George Francomb in the box and was rightly shown the red card to end any hopes of a comeback.

Day easily saved Akinfenwa’s weak penalty but the man they call The Beast got his second goal on 72 minutes, proving far too strong for Ismail Yakubu before poking the ball past a helpless Day from close range.

With a daunting trip to second-placed Wycombe Wanderers to come next weekend, Tuesday’s home clash with Tranmere Rovers looks like a crucial fixture.

County desperately need a win. At the moment they’d settle for a point or maybe simply a goal.

Wimbledon: Shea, Fuller, Kennedy, Reeves, Oshilaja, Nightingale (Phillips, 46) Rigg (Potter, 69), Bulman, Connolly (Azeez, 70), Akinfenwa, Francomb

Subs not used: McDonnell, Moore, Beere, Tanner

County: Day, Jackson, Yakubu, Jones, Feely, Sandell, Porter (Minshull, 79), Byrne, Chapman (Klukowski, 75), O’Connor, Zebroski (Storey, 60)

Subs not used: Stephens, Jeffers, Flynn, Poole

Booked: Porter, Jones

Sent off: Feely

Referee: Dean Whitestone

Attendance: 3,817 (County 276)