NEWPORT County AFC face a crucial four days in their hunt for a League Two play-off place, but manager Michael Flynn has another target in mind before thinking about a top-seven spot.

Back-to-back wins over Cheltenham Town and Yeovil Town have left County in 11th place with eight games to go.

Flynn’s men are six points below sixth-placed Forest Green Rovers with two games in hand as they prepare to take on two promotion rivals.

The Exiles host fifth-placed Tranmere Rovers tomorrow and 10th-placed Swindon Town on Tuesday night as they aim to keep up the pressure on the teams above them in the table.

But Flynn’s first aim is to beat the club’s best points total since winning promotion six years ago.

That was set when County finished ninth on 65 points under the management of Justin Edinburgh and Jimmy Dack in the 2014-2015 season.

“I’m not one to sit back and give myself a tap on the back because we’re safe,” said Flynn. “I’m not interested in that.

“I want to move this club on from looking over our shoulders at relegation to looking upwards at the play-offs and the top half of the table. I think I’ve already done that.

“I’m not happy just coasting along and scraping through. That’s not what I’m about and if that was the only remit then I’d probably be looking elsewhere.

“We’ve had a fantastic FA Cup run and we’ve got further in the Checkatrade Trophy so it’s a season that has improved on last year already.

“I want to get the highest points since the club has been back in the league.

“We had 64 last year and I want to get 66 this year, so we need 11 points from eight games. If they don’t do that they’ll be in all summer [doing extra training]!

“But football owes nobody anything and if you sit back and think it’s all done, you tend to get a walloping right between the eyes.

“We’ll be striving to finish as high as we can and, hopefully, we can go on a run until the end of the season and scrape in [to the play-offs].”

South Wales Argus:

Tranmere head to Rodney Parade looking to bounce back from their 2-0 defeat at Oldham Athletic on Tuesday night.

“Momentum is key,” said Flynn. “Tranmere won seven in a row and they were unbeaten in 10 [before Tuesday].

“If we have that kind of run between now and the end of the season we’ll be in the play-offs.

“But there’s going to be a lot more twists and turns between now and the end of the season.

“Bury have had a little wobble, Mansfield have come off it a bit and even Lincoln have dropped points, and MK Dons have kicked on to move into second.

“At the bottom Notts County have put a little run together and Morecambe have been in great form.

“You really can’t predict it at all – it’s a strange league.

“I’m enjoying it,” added the Exiles boss. “We’ve reached April 6 and the season is still alive.

“There are not many times in previous years that that has happened.

“We’ve got for weeks to go and eight games to play. Let’s see what we can do.

“I hope the boys go out and enjoy it and take their chance.

“If we win this one it really does put the pressure on the teams above us.”

But Flynn is well aware of the quality that Tranmere possess.

“It’s a tough game against a very good team,” he said. “I think Micky Mellon has done a very good job getting them out of the Conference and the way they’ve kicked on this season.

“They’ve been very good and before Tuesday night they were on one of the best runs anyone has produced in the league all season.

“We’ve got to be on our game. If we are then we’re a very good team. If we’re not and we start sloppily and make silly mistakes then we usually get beaten.

“It’s a free hit for us really, because all the pressure is on Tranmere.”

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