NEWPORT County AFC manager Michael Flynn insists he has no regrets over his team selection for Tuesday’s Carabao Cup clash with Oxford United and he’s confident that the 3-0 defeat will not affect his side’s League Two momentum.

Flynn made five changes from the team that beat Grimsby Town 1-0 on Saturday to climb to fifth in the table.

Joe Day, Josh Sheehan and Padraig Amond all dropped to the bench, while Matty Dolan and Mark Harris missed out with respective groin and thigh strains.

Oxford, who had Jamie Hanson sent off late on, claimed a spot in the third round of the cup thanks to an own goal from Mickey Demetriou, a 30-yard screamer from Shandon Baptiste and a stoppage-time strike from Gavin Whyte.

“I didn’t have much of a choice, really,” said Flynn of his starting XI.

“The only two I really rested were Joe and Padraig.

“The others were forced changes. [Dolan and Harris] both had to come off on Saturday with little niggles but I’m hoping they’ll both be fine for Saturday.

“It’s down to the boys who come in to nail down the shirt.

“There were a few decent performances and a few who need to improve but I’m not going to get too disappointed.”

Flynn felt his side competed well with the League One side for much of the match but he admitted that they failed to recover from going 2-0 down inside the first four minutes.

“You can’t start any game like that," said the Exiles boss.

“It’s tough to come back from that in any match and Oxford are a good team from the league above. It was a terrible, terrible start from us.

“Between the two areas I thought we did quite well, second-half we were the better team and we were just chasing it at the end [when we conceded the third].

“But we didn’t really create too much and when we did we took the wrong options. It’s frustrating because the way we started the game killed it off.

“For their first goal we had seven in the box and they had one and it was suicidal defending. It was very poor.

“And it sums it up that they had a man sent off and we had to lose a player injured with no subs left so it was 10 against 10, it topped the night off but we’ll bounce back and go again.”

Captain Andrew Crofts returned from a toe infection to play 75 minutes but Antoine Semenyo was forced off after the challenge that resulted in the red card for Hanson.

“Crofty started a bit rusty but he got better as the game went on,” said Flynn.

“It’s always hard when you come back in after a few weeks out and you’ve not really trained but he’s a good pro, he looks after himself and he’s got to fight now to get into the team.

“That’s what everybody who hasn’t got the shirt has got to do.

“Antoine will be assessed by the doctor. He’s had a bang on the head so he’s a little bit groggy and we’ll have to see if he’s available for Saturday or not. I’ll have a look at what I’ve got and what I think will beat Port Vale.”

Asked if his side had lost momentum ahead of that trip to Vale Park, the Flynn said: “I hope not. It’s not something that should happen. It’s a cup game, a free shot for us, and there were a couple of good performances so hopefully we take that into Saturday.”