NEWPORT County AFC manager Michael Flynn admits poor away form has “killed” his side this season, but he’s at a loss to explain their chronic travel sickness.

County suffered a sixth successive away defeat in League Two and their 10th in the last 11 on the road in the league as they went down 2-0 at Carlisle United on Tuesday night following a first-half red card to defender Ryan Inniss.

The Exiles have only won three away league matches all season – at Forest Green Rovers, Swindon Town and Scunthorpe United – and claimed just 12 points from a possible 51 away from Rodney Parade so far.

Saturday’s trip to bottom club Stevenage offers Flynn’s men the ideal opportunity to end that wretched run, the cause of which is a mystery to the manager.

“I wish I knew,” he said when asked to explain his side’s poor away form.

“We’ve tried every single thing we can think of and it’s really frustrating because the away form has killed us.

“We’ve tried leaving later the day before so you get less time in the hotel, leaving earlier and training on the way, training before we leave…

“It’s one of those things. We did everything right [before Carlisle]. The journey was fine, hotel, food, pre-match, everything we set out and expected from them…

“We’ve tried to rectify it and we’ll have to do it sharpish because we’ve got another away game on Saturday.”

South Wales Argus:

Flynn was disappointed that his side couldn’t build on Saturday’s 1-0 home win over Morecambe.

But he says he can take heart from the second-half performance at Brunton Park when his side battled to contain the hosts with 10 men and also created two good opportunities for returning skipper Joss Labadie to score.

“They looked very solid on Saturday didn’t look like conceding until right near the end,” said the Exiles boss.

“And here we conceded after five minutes, so consistency is a problem.

“But I think they showed a lot of battling [spirit in the second half].

“They did their jobs, followed their runners, didn’t concede off set-plays, created one or two chances and stuck together.

“And I think that’s why the supporters clapped them off at the end.

“It’s a big contrast to the Oldham game where we conceded five. There was none of that.

“The support was unbelievable,” added Flynn. “Nobody wants to come to Carlisle on a Tuesday night so fair play to the 49 [who did make the trip].”

Inniss now faces a three-match ban, meaning he’ll miss the trips to Stevenage and Crawley Town and the home clash with Colchester United on March 21.

Fellow centre-back Mark O’Brien, who has been out with a knee injury since the defeat at Leyton Orient on January 25 should be back for the Colchester game.

“I’m hoping that he’ll be back in a week or two, more like two probably,” said Flynn.

“He’s on target. The aim was the Colchester game and I’m not going to rush him for the sake of one game.

“He’s not going to make Saturday. Would he make Tuesday? I don’t know.”

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