Newport County: League Two side severely hit by Covid outbreak
- Published
Former club captain Mike Flynn has been manager of Newport County since 2017
Newport County manager Mike Flynn says his squad has been severely hit by an outbreak of Covid-19.
Four players have tested positive and several others are currently isolating after being identified as close contacts.
Flynn himself recently missed three matches after testing positive for Covid, but says he is certain he is not the cause of the outbreak.
"I was nowhere near the players." Flynn said.
"I'm 90% certain I know where the cases came from, and it will be dealt with," he added.
Flynn says a handful of players started feeling poorly after their 3-0 defeat at Salford on August 28, and some have since tested positive.
Others are now isolating because they are not fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
"One or two of them have got to isolate because they haven't been double jabbed," said Flynn.
"That's a responsibility - or a decision - they've got to live with.
"They've decided not to have the jab so every time they come in close contact (with someone who's tested positive) they're going to have to miss 10 days of football.
"I'm not happy with it, but I've got to let the players make their own decisions.
"There's four who've got it (Covid) and another three or four who've got to isolate because they've been in close contact with their teammates.
"There were players who felt really run down and low on energy.
"They thought they had it, did tests and all negative. So it's not just the seven or eight who've been affected.
"There's another three or four who had all the symptoms but didn't test positive.
"Until this, we've probably had the best Covid record, I'd say, in the Football League.
"We didn't have one game called off, and only had one player who had it.
"Maybe it was just our time for a few of them to have it."
Flynn says he is "still not 100%" after recovering from the virus.
He missed the League Two games against Tranmere and Salford as well as the 8-0 EFL Cup defeat to Southampton.
"It was bad for three or four days - I was shaking, aching, sweating," he said.
"I still can't taste or smell anything, and my voice is still very nasally, but I am on the mend.
"I've had two jabs. I'm glad I did because I'd hate to find out how bad I'd have been if I hadn't.
Newport's 3-0 loss at Salford was one of the games Flynn missed.
"My mind's always on football, though.
"After the Tranmere game (a 1-0 win), when I was thinking 'This looks easy!' (for his coaching team), I nearly put my fist through the computer (watching the Southampton game).
"But I wasn't expecting to win that game. We had a weakened team and made a lot of errors.
"The Salford game was extremely disappointing. Imagine watching it on a screen knowing there's nothing you can do.
"I was on the phone to the staff 40 seconds into that game.
"I spoke to the goalkeeping coach, and must've put the phone down about eight times on him.
"At the time I didn't know (the reasons behind that performance), but now you can begin to understand (the Covid outbreak)."
Flynn says he has not considered asking for Saturday's League Two game against Leyton Orient to be postponed:
"We can field a team. I'm not into trying to get any advantage out of it.
"We've got 18 or 19 players to pick from and we'll get on with it."