NEWPORT County AFC manager Michael Flynn hopes his players will benefit from a two-week break in fixtures following Friday night’s 1-0 home win over Cheltenham Town.

An own goal from Chris Hussey was enough to earn the Exiles all three points and saw them climb from 13th to 11th in the table on Friday night, five points below the play-off places.

Saturday’s results meant Flynn’s men dropped back to 12th but they are now just six points below sixth-placed Forest Green Rovers with a game in hand.

The postponement of next Saturday’s home clash with Oldham Athletic, which has been rearranged for April 30 due to the Latics’ international call-ups, means County will have played two games fewer than most of the teams above them in the table.

But Flynn hopes that the rest will do his players good and allow Joss Labadie, Andrew Crofts, Matty Dolan and Mark O’Brien to return to fitness for the trip to relegation-threatened Yeovil Town on March 30.

“I need a rest and the players do too,” said the manager after the match on Friday.

“It’s been a long season. It will refresh them and it’ll give Labs, Matty Dolan and Crofty a chance to be back for the Yeovil game.

“It’s a pleasant surprise for us, as long as we back it up.

“I will give them some time off. I think they’ve earned that.

“I trust them. They’ll all be sent a programme to do [while they are off].”

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Labadie (above) missed the Cheltenham match as a precaution after picking up a strain in training.

“He just felt his hamstring,” explained Flynn. “It was a little bit stiff. I could have risked him. He wants to play all the time, but it wasn’t worth it with the two-week break.

“I need a healthy squad going into the last important games of the season.

"Mark O'Brien was injured,” added Flynn. “He’s got a bruised foot.”

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