MANAGER Michael Flynn admits this season will go down as a “missed opportunity” for Newport County AFC but he insists that his players have not thrown in the towel.

County welcomed the British Lionhearts boxing team, who take on the France Fighting Roosters at the Newport Centre tomorrow night, to yesterday’s pre-match press conference.

And Flynn is adamant that the Exiles, who host Swindon Town at Rodney Parade tomorrow afternoon, are ready to go the distance in League Two – even if their play-off hopes are now pretty much over.

County climbed to fifth in the table in January but they are now 13th after a run of just one win in 12 league games either side of two FA Cup clashes with Tottenham Hotspur.

“I’m massively frustrated because I believe in these players and I do see it as a missed opportunity,” he said.

“I’m learning all the time. I’m learning how you overcome being on such a high with the FA Cup and then getting back to normality – the mentality of the players and the staff around us.

“But I can’t fault their efforts – they’ve given me everything this season.

“We want to finish on a high and we can do that as long as they believe that and we go and put in the performances and hopefully get a few wins on the board.”

The manager hit out at what he believes to be some below-the-belt criticism of his team after last week’s home defeat to Stevenage.

Some fans have suggested that the players have ‘switched off’ but he’s adamant that his team will fight on until the final bell at Carlisle United on May 5.

“They’ve been brilliant all season, bar one or two games,” said Flynn.

“And if that’s all we’re concerned about or worrying about then it’s not been that bad a season.

“All the boys are motivated, they’re in great spirits and they’ve been fantastic on and off the pitch.

“I’ve played in teams where we had nothing to play for and even then nobody [stopped putting the effort in].

“I think it’s just something that is said from the outside – ‘they’ve switched off’ – it’s a load of rubbish.

“I’m a little bit more experienced in this field than 99 per cent of the fans and in my experience I’ve never really known a player to switch off.

“I’ve seen players lose form and not be at their best but not once did they cross that line [not wanting to perform] because if they’re out of contract then they want to prove themselves to somebody else, whether they’re wanted here or not.”

Free Press Series:

Dan Butler, Scot Bennett, Ben Tozer, Joss Labadie, Frank Nouble (above), Marlon Jackson and Paul Hayes are all out of contract this summer.

“They’ve all got something to prove because there will be ins and outs [in the summer],” said Flynn.

“I’m already concentrating on targets for next season to strengthen the squad and strengthen the team and I’ll be talking to players at the end of the season who won’t be here [next season].

“It’s as simple as that and it’s the nature of the beast.”

But even those contracted for next season will be giving it their all, according to the boss.

He added: “If they can’t get motivated for a football match then they need to seriously consider a new line of work. Motivation is the last thing on my mind.

“If there’s unhappy people they can come down [to training] and see how hard the boys work and see how much they put in for this football club.

“It’s only a small section of fans who are not happy. I’m not happy that we haven’t won as many games as we should have, trust me, but some of the rubbish I see doesn’t bother me. It’s water off a duck’s back.”