MANAGER Michael Flynn has explained why Joss Labadie rejected a new contract with Newport County AFC during the summer.

Labadie, who suffered an anterior cruciate ligament knee injury in March, was out of contract in June and declined the club’s offer of a new deal.

The former Exiles skipper is now back in training after seven months of rehabilitation and this week he agreed a short-term deal to return to the club.

Some fans have expressed their disappointment that Labadie turned his back on the club in the summer but Flynn has no issue with the way the 28-year-old conducted himself.

He explained that Labadie’s main motivation for not signing a new deal at the end of last season was so that he could concentrate on his recovery.

“Certain things were up in the air for Joss in the summer,” said the Exiles boss.

“He only wanted to concentrate on getting back fit and that is something that I respected.

“He had the opportunity to go somewhere to have rehab with better facilities than we’ve got and that was fine by me because I wanted him to be right so he can get playing football again.”

Labadie is itching to return to action and Flynn says he has been welcomed with open arms by the rest of the squad.

“We sat down and spoke before the game [at Bury on Tuesday] while the boys were warming up and the first thing he said was ‘I’ve missed this’ and that’s him all over,” said the manager.

“If you’d seen the boys’ WhatsApp group you would have seen how happy they all were.

“He’s somebody who the boys have got a lot of time for, even the ones who weren’t here last season.

“And when you’ve got a captain like Andrew Crofts calling him and asking him to come and be part of it, that shows you how much we are together.”