NEWPORT County AFC manager Michael Flynn says defeat to Mansfield Town on the opening day of the season means nothing as his side prepare to take on the Stags again in the League Two play-offs.

County were beaten 3-0 at Field Mill back on August 4 last year, but Flynn believes the scoreline that day was more than a little harsh on his side.

And he also pointed to the 1-0 home win over David Flitcroft’s team in February as a confidence-booster ahead of tomorrow's semi-final first leg at Rodney Parade.

“On the day up there we had one or two chances to get right back into the game,” recalled Flynn.

“I don’t think that was one of our worst performances, if I’m totally honest.

“They took control of the game in the first half, but they didn’t do that so much in the second half and they definitely didn’t do it at Rodney Parade.

“They deservedly won that game [at Field Mill] and it’s going to be tough.

“But we’ve got the home game first and it’s going to be rocking at Rodney Parade. “It’s going to be a big crowd and it’s going to be a tough game for Mansfield.

“I want a win,” he added. “I’m not looking to keep it tight; I want to take an advantage to Mansfield.

“We want to make sure we get in a good position and then we’ve got to do the same on Sunday, otherwise it’ll be Mansfield going to Wembley and we’ll be looking back on what could have been.

“But, if we go and produce the performance levels that we know we can do, we can cause a big upset.”

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The form book would seem to favour the Exiles, who are on a 10-game unbeaten run, rather than Mansfield, who lost their final three games to drop out of the automatic promotion places.

“I’d much rather be going into the play-offs with a 10-game unbeaten run than a 10-game losing run,” said Flynn.

“It’s given the boys confidence and it’s showed them that they belong in the play-offs, because they’ve done it the hard way – like we usually do.

“We go in with confidence but there’s no point getting carried away because nothing is done yet.”

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