NEWPORT County AFC defender Mickey Demetriou insists the players know they must beat Morecambe on Saturday to take some of the pressure off manager Michael Flynn and put smiles back on the faces of the fans.

County have been licking their wounds this week after being torn apart at Oldham Athletic last Saturday.

The 5-0 defeat at Boundary Park left the Exiles 16th in the League Two table and prompted Flynn to admit that he is now fighting to keep his job after a run of just four wins in 21 league matches.

He also questioned the players’ “character” and “team ethic” after the match but Demetriou, who has been a key man in Flynn’s team over the past three years, is adamant that the whole squad is fully behind the boss.

“It’s not nice to hear the manager say that because it means we’re not doing our jobs,” said the centre-back.

“He’s shown a lot of trust in us as players and we didn’t repay that trust on Saturday.

“If he’s fighting for his job then we’ll all be fighting for ours as well.

“We want to get a win to take the pressure off the gaffer because he’s done a lot for this club.

“Hopefully he does get the time he needs,” added Demetriou.

“There’s no doubt that we’re going through a bad spell and we’re not used to it at this club over the last few years – ever since the gaffer came in.

“But he’s earned the right and we’ve earned the right as players to get ourselves out of this.

“He should have a lot of credit for the job he’s done here and he’s earned the chance to put this right.”

South Wales Argus:

Demetriou says the players are also determined to repay the faith shown by the supporters, especially the 147 who made the 190-mile trip north last week.

“Hopefully we can put in a performance for the fans,” he said.

“We owe it to them, especially the ones who made the journey to Oldham at the weekend.

“But we want to win for the gaffer and the staff as well, and for ourselves. Nobody likes losing – it ruins the weekend for everybody.

“It was not a nice experience for anyone on Saturday and it was a long journey home.

“It was probably one of the quietest buses I’ve been on in a long time.

“We’ve got 12 games left now and nobody wants the season to fade away,” added the 29-year-old. “That’s no good for anyone.

“We need to keep fighting. We want to show that we want to play for this football club and we want to win games.

“I hear people saying we’re not playing for the manager or not putting the effort in and that’s not right.

“We’ve had bad results recently but we always put the effort in.

“We want to restore some pride now and hopefully, at 5pm on Saturday, we can put some smiles back on the faces of the fans.”

Read more: Newport County won't face bogeyman Kevin Ellison as he's frozen out at Morecambe