NEWPORT County AFC manager bemoaned his team’s poor finishing as they were made to pay for a host of missed chances against MK Dons.

County hit the woodwork four times before Dons substitute Chuks Aneke stole all three points with a poacher’s finish two minutes from time.

The 1-0 defeat sees Michael Flynn’s men drop to 15th in the League Two table ahead of this weekend’s FA Cup fifth-round showdown with Premier League champions Manchester City.

“I can’t fault the effort and the quality was excellent at times,” said the Exiles boss.

“But when you have that many chances, gilt-edged as well, you can see why we don’t kill teams off.

“There have been a number of times this season when I’ve said we haven’t been ruthless enough in both boxes.

“That was it again tonight, even though we were by far the better team. That’s why our goal difference is minus.

“We put in 27 crosses into the box in the first half. On the law of averages you are going to score off one or two of them.

“It was a frustrating night. We lost Ade [Azeez] in the warm up with a hamstring niggle and I just thought then it is going to be one of those nights.

“Sometimes it just isn’t your night and it definitely wasn’t tonight. That said, we need to be more ruthless. If we had taken a quarter of our chances we would have been out of sight.”

South Wales Argus:

As well as the injury to Azeez, Flynn revealed after the match that veteran midfielder Andrew Crofts has been ruled out for around a month with a calf injury.

Joss Labadie and Mark O’Brien both missed the match with minor problems but should be OK to face City.

“Joss had a stiff neck and Mark O’Brien was also a bit stiff after playing a lot of games recently,” explained the manager.

“They were the only two changes he made. Both should be OK for the weekend.

“Andrew Crofts is out and will be out for a month after feeling his calf on Saturday. Tyler Forbes should be OK. Joss should be OK.

“It is something to look forward to on Saturday,” he added. “But it is a disappointing way to go into it because we were the better team.

“We don’t get too carried away when we win or too despondent when we lose, but it would have been much better going into the game on Saturday with three points behind us.”

Read more: Match report from Rodney Parade

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