NEWPORT County AFC manager Michael Flynn refused to talk about his side’s play-off hopes after they halted a run of three straight defeats in League Two with a hard-fought point against Notts County on Saturday.

County remain 12th in the table but they did move a point closer to the top seven thank to Lincoln City’s defeat at Crawley Town.

Flynn’s men are now six points below the play-off places with 13 games remaining but he’s refusing to look too far ahead.

“I’m just taking one game at a time now,” said the Exiles boss.

“I’m not getting carried away. We’ve got our targets and we’ve had them all season but it’s one game at a time.

“We’ve got to go on a run and we’ve got to be prepared to battle, like we did [on Saturday].

“We’ve lost a couple of games of football but it’s a lot better than the last two seasons,” he added.

“It’s a massive improvement on and off the pitch. We’ve just got to keep going and not get carried away.

“I said in January when we almost went unbeaten that there was going to be another bad run because I’m realistic and we’re a football club who just survived on the last day of the season.

“I know that with our squad and budget we’re going to be up and down but the boys have been fantastic this season and I can’t praise them enough.”

Flynn was pleased with the way his team responded to criticism after last Tuesday’s 5-0 drubbing at Mansfield Town.

“I knew I’d get a reaction from the players,” he said.

“I made three changes, one forced. I haven’t got enough players to go and change nine.

“I’ve got a very good group of players who’ve done a fantastic job this season overall and just because we lost one game heavily I’m not going to hang them out to dry.

“They’ve been fantastic for me and Mansfield, Lincoln and Colchester are three very tough away games.”

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The return of centre-back Mark O’Brien (above) to the starting XI meant a change in formation and Flynn felt his side, who had conceded 10 goals in their last three league matches, defended well but lacked a creative spark going forward.

“It’s our first clean sheet for a while so I’m delighted with that,” he said.

“But we’ve got to have a little bit more quality when going forward.

“When we go to a 3-5-2 we’re a lot more solid but we’re not as good going forward.

“I want to play a nice brand of football but sometimes you’ve got to go back to basics and get a point on the board.

“We’re comfortable with either system but we tend to rely on set-pieces a little bit when we go to three at the back.”

County will be without Joss Labadie for next Saturday’s trip to Port Vale and the home clash with Accrington Stanley on March 3 after the captain picked up his 10th yellow card of the season to earn a two-game ban.