MICHAEL Flynn said he was not prepared to lay into his players after Newport County AFC’s defeat to relegated Chesterfield, insisting they were “dead on their feet” in the second half.

Kristian Dennis’ header gave the Spireites all three points at the Proact Stadium on Tuesday night, as the Exiles ran out of steam in their 55th and penultimate match of the season.

County could still claim a top-10 finish in League Two when they end the term away to Carlisle United on Saturday, but boss Flynn reckons the team is now running on empty.

Mark O’Brien and Ben Tozer missed the trip to Derbyshire through injury, joining the likes of Scot Bennett and Joss Labadie on the sidelines and leaving the squad somewhat stretched.

Speaking after the 1-0 reverse, Flynn said: “We created enough chances in the first half to win two or three games but our end product was bad.

“We spoke about it at half-time and we just went the other way in the second half.

“It doesn’t help that we’ve had to make a lot of changes and the boys have given me everything so I’m not going to read the riot act.

“They looked dead on their feet and that’s from the efforts they’ve put in all season.

“When you lose Scot Bennett, Ben Tozer, Mark O’Brien and Joss Labadie, and Ben White was struggling in the second half, it’s tough because we haven’t got a big enough squad to handle that.”

He added: “We’ve been on a decent run of form lately and we’ve just hit a brick wall.

“They were knackered this evening, and it has been tough for them.

“We haven’t got a big enough squad. You make the changes and they’re not as good as the ones that we’ve lost.”

When asked if he will have to make more changes for Carlisle, he said: “It’s not going to be easy and we’ll have to see who we’ve got available because they’re out on their feet.

“I’ll have to look who is fit and go from there.”

Chesterfield caretaker boss Ian Evatt made all his substitutions before the second half got under way, and they proved to be the difference as the hosts earned a deserved victory.

“I thought they took off their best player in (Andy) Kellett so you’d like to think we would go again,” said Flynn.

“But, to be fair to Chesterfield, they put some fight in, especially in the second half, and I think they were determined to give one last show for the home crowd.”