MIKE Flynn hopes a working trip to the Stadium of Light will give him some bright ideas to boost Newport County AFC’s League Two campaign.

The Exiles manager has handed over the reins to assistant Wayne Hatswell and consultant Lennie Lawrence for tomorrow's friendly at Chippenham and Wednesday’s tune-up at Merthyr (both kick-offs 7.30pm).

The 36-year-old has travelled to Portugal to study for his UEFA Pro Licence by observing how things are done at European giants Benfica.

“It is the only time I can go and I need to get it done, so Wayne and Lennie will take care of things until Thursday,” he said after Saturday’s 4-3 win at Swindon Supermarine.

“I am going to one of the iconic European football clubs and watching and learning how they do things, not just from the first team but from the top of the club to the bottom of the club.

“How they do their recruitment, their analysis, their coaching, there’s so much.

“Even though we are poles apart in terms of the size of the clubs and our revenues, there’s definitely things that I can take from there to bring back to improve our club and myself.”

When Flynn returns he will bolster his squad with the aim of giving himself more selection headaches for the League Two opener at Stevenage on Saturday, August 5.

“I am looking for another three or four players. I want competition in every position,” said the manager.

“We had a couple of trialists against Swindon Supermarine and a lot against Undy on Friday. A lot have already been let go and we are starting to whittle it down.

“We need the right players and some men to give us some back-up for the squad we’ve got, because we’ve got a really good starting XI then we are a little bit weak in replacements.”

Flynn is working with one of the smallest budgets in the Football League but is happy to look for good value.

“What tends to happen with experienced players is that they cost a lot of money and we’ve missed out on players because we can’t compete with a lot of clubs,” he said.

“That’s fine by me, I know where we are and it’s no surprise. The board have always been straight with me, I know what we have got to work with and that’s what we will do.

“I will never compromise the financial position of the club. I will always do what’s best for the club but at the same time I want that quality of player that I think we can get.”