THE majority of the players may be fighting for their future at Newport County AFC between now and the summer but star man Mark Byrne is committed to staying at Rodney Parade.

The Irish midfielder, who has been one of the standout performers for County this season, signed a new contract in December that takes him through to the summer of 2016.

And, even though then-manager Justin Edinburgh was a big reason for him joining the Exiles last summer, Byrne is loving life in Newport and dreaming of taking on Edinburgh’s Gillingham side in League One next season.

“I’m contracted until the end of next season and I’m happy here,” said the 26-year-old, who scored a late equaliser against Tranmere Rovers on Tuesday night to halt a run of four defeats in a row.

“I’m settled and happy that I’ve got another year here but a lot of people are playing for contracts now and it’s a new slate for everyone.

“I think there’s only two or three who are contracted for next season so the boys know they have to perform week in and week out to get a new contract.

“It is tough being out of contract in the summer and the boys know they have to get their heads down.”

Byrne says the uncertainty over Edinburgh’s future in the last month did have an effect on performances before the manager’s departure for the Gills last week.

But he believes the second half performance on Tuesday shows that County are finding their form again and has backed caretaker boss Jimmy Dack to keep the club in the League Two play-off positions.

“The boys are disappointed Justin has gone but I think he deserves his move,” said Byrne.

“He’s done so well for Newport over the last three years or so but now he’s gone we need to move on and get back to what we know we can do.

“We didn’t really know what was going on for the last two or three weeks but we’re 100 per cent behind Jimmy and it’s just about getting back to basics now.”

Byrne praised the County fans for their support on Tuesday and he expects similarly vocal backing at Wycombe Wanderers on Saturday and for the remainder of what he insists could still be a successful season.

“The crowd really got behind us and that’s what you’d expect because since I’ve been here the fans have been great,” he added.

“We’re still in the play-off positions and we’ve got a tough game at Wycombe now but we’re capable of going there and getting three points.

“We’ve just got to keep going because we’re still in it. We’ve got to keep picking up the points and hopefully we’ll be there at the end of the season or even higher.”