NEWPORT County AFC manager Michael Flynn is certain that the goals will start flowing soon for his team, but he’s hinted that he may have to spend big on a new striker in the summer.

County head to Mansfield Town tomorrow without a goal in more than five hours of League Two football and they've only scored 27 in 30 league games so far this season.

Flynn felt his side should have beaten Walsall on Tuesday night but they once again failed to take their chances.

The 0-0 draw at Rodney Parade left them 13th in the table, 11 points below the last play-off place.

“We’re leaving it a bit late to kick-start [the season] and gain momentum because we’ve only got 16 games left,” said the Exiles boss

“But we’ve just got to keep believing. They’re getting in the right areas and it’s not like we’re not creating chances.

“It’ll change. We’ve got to keep doing the hard work and keep practicing what we do in training and hopefully they’ll show a bit more composure.

“It is frustrating, the players are frustrated. But nobody means to miss. It is what it is. I’m sure that if we get a chance [against Mansfield] we will take it.”

Reflecting on the lack of goals and the fact that only bottom club Stevenage have scored fewer goals in the league this season, Flynn added: “I’ll definitely be looking at it for next season.

“We might have to go a little bit more heavy up top, in terms of wages, to get the right person in.”

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Flynn is happy, however, with the impact of January signings Dale Gorman (above), Billy Waters, Jordan Green and Otis Khan, who is ineligible today against his parent club.

“After the first five minutes, I though Dale settled in really well [against Walsall],” he said.

“His choice of pass was good and he was always available to receive a pass.

“It was a really good performance from him.

“And I thought Billy was a pain and a pest outside the box.

“He got hold of the ball and linked the play and always made himself available, but he just needed to calm down a little bit in the final third.

“As soon as he gets over the excitement of making his full debut and playing football again, he’ll get back into the swing of things and he’ll score some goals.”

County won on penalties at Mansfield in the play-off semi-final last May but their last two regular-season trips to Field Mill ended in 3-0 and 5-0 defeats.

The Exiles did win there in the Conference in 2012, but they’ve not won a Football League match away to the Stags since January 1939.

“That [shootout victory] made a change because I’ve never had a good day there [before that],” said Flynn.

“They are fantastic memories [of the semi-final] but that’s all they are now. That’s gone now. We haven’t dwelled on last season.”

Mansfield have struggled to recapture last season’s form, and they’re currently 21st in the table but Flynn is not expecting an easy time of it this weekend.

“It’s never easy up there,” he said.

“If they’re on it, they’re a really good team. If they’re not, hopefully we will get a win.

“They’ve got lots of good players. They’ve got pace with CJ Hamilton and they’ve got strong experienced professionals like Neal Bishop and Krystian Pearce.

“They’re a good team. I know they’re down towards the bottom and they’ve had a poor season by their standards, but they can beat anyone in the league on their day.

“Hopefully they don’t have their day.”

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