Rodney Parade pitch 'worst ever', says Newport County boss Mike Flynn

The Rodney Parade pitch has deteriorated this winter

Newport County manager Mike Flynn says the Rodney Parade pitch is "the worst I have ever seen it".

The pitch has been an issue for years as Newport share the stadium with two rugby teams, Dragons and Newport RFC.

Flynn attaches no blame to the ground staff because of those demands but he admits the surface is making life difficult for his team as they chase promotion from League Two.

"How anybody hasn't been injured on it, I don't know," said Flynn.

This season Wales' women's side have also staged games at Rodney Parade, which also hosted five Cardiff Blues home matches as the Blues' ground was being utilised as a medical storage facility.

"This is nothing to do with the ground staff or the staff who work tirelessly to get it even in a playable state - or half playable state. They work their socks off," Flynn added.

"I am not having a dig at them one bit and I never will because I have seen how hard they work - the likes of John Raymond and Mark Jones - and how much organisation and planning he puts into things. It's not a slight on them at all.

"But the pitch is the worst I have ever seen it.

"I don't want this to be about the pitch. It is what it is, we cannot change it. So we need to get it out of our systems to carry on and try to win games albeit it will be not as pretty as we have become used to."

Newport host Stevenage on Saturday following a midweek 1-0 win at Walsall, where Josh Sheehan, Joss Labadie, Liam Shephard and Scott Bennett returned from suspensions.

Captain Labadie, wing-back Shephard, Wales international midfielder Sheehan and versatile Bennett were playing together for the first time since all were involved in a spate of red cards which resulted in three-game bans for each of them.

"If you think about it that is the first away game Josh Sheehan has played since Boxing Day - it has been that long, and it's the first time we have had the four back from their red cards," Flynn added.

"They are four important players for us. If you look at it, all four of them have played the majority of the games this season."