NEWPORT County AFC manager Michael Flynn has called on supporters to get behind the players for the final 11 games of the season after they bounced back with a battling win over Morecambe on Saturday.

Flynn and his players came in for a lot of criticism following the 5-0 defeat at Oldham Athletic on February 29.

And he urged everyone to stick together after his side got back on track with a 1-0 win over the Shrimps on their return to Rodney Parade, courtesy of Dale Gorman’s second-half strike.

“The players have been getting a lot of stick,” said the Exiles boss. “It’s not just myself. They’ve been getting a lot of stick and it plays on their mind.

“It doesn’t help them, I’ll tell you that. It doesn’t do them any good.

“They go into their shells, they lose confidence and they stop doing the things they’re good at.

“People like making up rubbish and you get clowns who say, ‘he’s lost the dressing room’ but I think that [performance] proves that is wrong,” added Flynn.

“It’s just an easy thing for people who have never involved in football to say.

“There’ll still be a few unhappy ones [after this win] but that’s part and parcel of the game.”

South Wales Argus:

Flynn was pleased with the fighting spirit shown by his team and he played down a post-match melee involving players and members of the coaching staff from both sides.

“It was just handbags,” he said. “They were disappointed to lose the game and it was just a coming together of two players, really. That was it.

“It was nothing. It was just typical bravado on the football pitch.

“Nobody is really going to clock someone or punch somebody, it’s not going to happen.

“It was just a coming together and I just separated two players. That was it.”

Flynn praised match-winner Gorman and raised the prospect that the Leyton Orient loanee, who is a free agent in the summer, could be staying at Rodney Parade.

“It was a great goal from Dale,” said the manager. “He took it so well and he meant it.

“He’s a clever footballer and it will be good to hopefully get a good pre-season into him and he’s only going to get better.”

Asked if he’d like to sign the midfielder on a permanent contract, Flynn said: “Let’s get to the end of the season first. I’ll have to do some wheeling and dealing and we’ll go from there.”

County are now on the road for the next nine days, starting at Carlisle United tomorrow before trips to Stevenage next Saturday and Crawley Town next Tuesday.

“For Carlisle, we leave on Monday and come back on Wednesday,” said Flynn. “I’ve been on stag dos that are shorter than that!

“We’ll have one or two back, hopefully, and Joss [Labadie] is definitely back for Tuesday [after suspension] so we’ll have a look at things."

Read more: Newport County 1 Morecambe 0 - match report from Rodney Parade