MICHAEL Flynn admits it will be frustrating even if Newport County AFC get another Premier League big gun in the FA Cup because it will be played without the raucous backing of the Amber Army.

The Exiles are into the third round of the famous competition thanks to a 3-0 win against Salford and will discover their opponents on Monday night, with manager Flynn hoping to get his dream tie against Liverpool.

County have already taken on Manchester City, Spurs and Leicester City at Rodney Parade in the FA Cup while earlier this season they entertained Newcastle in the Carabao Cup when knocked out on penalties.

That clash, like the upsets against Swansea and Watford, was played behind closed doors because of the coronavirus pandemic and it won’t be a packed house in January.

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The best case scenario is that the tie, whether home or away, will be played in front of a few thousand lucky supporters. As things stand, fans are not allowed back into ground in Wales while in England it depends on what coronavirus tier clubs are in.

“We will be watching the draw on Monday, let’s just hope that we are at home,” said manager Flynn.

“We want the fans to be in and we’d love it to be a sell-out but I can’t see that happening, so it will also be a frustrating one.”

County have beaten a pair of League Two rivals to make the third round with a 2-1 win against Leyton Orient followed by a 3-0 success against Salford.

Mickey Demetriou missed an early penalty and it was goalless at the break but the Exiles struck three times after a harsh red card for the visitors’ Brandon Asante.

Jamie Proctor headed the opener, Padraig Amond slotted from the penalty spot then Saikou Janneh finished superbly in stoppage time.

It would have been even more comprehensive were it not for the heroics of Salford goalkeeper Vaclav Hladky.

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“We were by far the better team, we were excellent and it should have been 7-0. Salford didn’t have a shot of target, even with 11 men,” said Flynn.

“We scored three and it should have been seven. We missed a penalty, missed three from near enough on the line.

“That’s frustrating but it was a great performance in the second half. We were the better team throughout but maybe we weren’t great in the final third in the first half.”

The Exiles boss also had sympathy for Salford after they played for 10 men after Asante’s dismissal for catching Tom King late after the alert goalkeeper came out of his area to clear.

“I didn’t think it was a red, that’s all that I will say, but the officials are there to make the decisions and they went for us today,” said Flynn.

“It’s tough, refs have a split second to make a decision and you don’t know if they are getting advice through the comms from the linesmen and fourth official.”