Michael Flynn is going for the record. Newport County’s best points total since they returned to the Football League is 65 points – and manager Flynn’s Exiles are eight points away.

They have five fixtures left, starting at Barnet on Saturday.

Newport-born Flynn has done an astonishing job at Rodney Parade, lifting the team away from relegation problems and into a situation where they challenged for the play-offs.

There is no question Flynn is hugely ambitious for his home city club and says: “I can’t wait for this season to be out of the way,  but I want us to finish with the record points since we came back into the league.

“That’s what I’m hoping for.”

Former Spurs defender Justin Edinburgh led Newport to a points total go 65 and to beat that they need three wins from their last five fixtures.

There is no question that mathematically County can still earn promotion via the play-offs, but that is a remote possibility.

They have made huge progress over the season and the FA Cup run which ended against Spurs may well have proved crucial.

County’s loss of £351,456 was for the financial year ending June 2017, a period that saw two managers depart and a total of 36 players signed on permanent or loan deals, compared with a profit of £339,522 for the previous year.

But their FA Cup run has resulted in the board believing the club will make a profit for the coming financial period.

“The cup run might have been the best thing that happened to this club,” said Flynn.

“If we didn’t have the cup run and went up, costs go up, could we afford it? I doubt we could.

“Maybe the best thing to happen with amount of losses we had was the FA Cup run.

“That goal from Shawn McCoulsky against Leeds was priceless. It allowed us to draw Tottenham and save the club.

“That’s what it comes to when you’re losing that amount of money with no big benefactor.

“The supporters do what they can but it’s not enough to sustain the amount of losses that we’ve had.

“It’s huge. The FA Cup run was worth more to the club than promotion would have been, especially in the middle of next season when wages have gone up and costs have gone up and you don’t have a good cup run and crowds go down because you’re struggling.”

County have made it clear that ‘strict budgets’ will be in place for 2018-19 and Flynn accepts he will be working within tight constraints.

“Budgets are already strict,” said the manager. “It’s a League Two football club and most are losing money hand over fist. I think it shows that you need investment.

“I have sat down with the board and talked about the budget and they are extremely supportive.

“It’s common sense economics – you can’t have what’s not there.

“And, while we all want that little bit extra, we need to put the financial security of the club first. I’ll always do that.”

Flynn is hopeful the development of defender Ben White will help County attract more loan players from higher leagues.

White, 20, has impressed during his season-long spell in League Two and has signed a new three-year contract with Premier League Brighton.

“He’s done what he needed to,” says Flynn. “He’s come here and been exceptional.

“It shows we look after them the right way and Premier League and Championship clubs who are looking to loan players to us will look at Ben White as an example, and hopefully we can do the same with their players.

“If he doesn’t go on to play for England he hasn’t fulfilled his potential.”

Newport have confirmed that loan striker Shawn McCoulsky has played his last game for the club.

McCoulsky, 21, has returned to parent club Bristol City after being diagnosed with a heart condition called pericarditis.

McCoulsky scored 11 goals in 35 appearances for County, bur needs total rest to recover and will not play again this season.

“Shawn’s fine in himself and his spirits are high, but he’s out for the season and won’t play for us again,” said Flynn. “He needs complete rest.

“The way that it’s been handled by our medical staff and by Bristol City’s medical staff has been first class.

“It’s not a serious or career-threatening injury as far as I know.”

Marlon Jackson is rated doubtful with a hamstring injury before Saturday’s trip to Barnet, but Mark O’Brien and Paul Hayes should be available.

Both played in a midweek friendly against Bristol City alongside James Bittner, Tyler Reid, Calaum Jahraldo-Martin, Jay Foulston, Josh Sheehan, Frank Nouble and Momodou Touray,

Newport County, possible: Day; White, Bennett, Demetriou; Pipe, Dolan, Tozer, Butler; Willmott; Amond, Collins. Subs: Bittner, Foulston, Jahraldo-Martin, Sheehan, Reid, Nouble, Touray

League Two 2017-18

			|  HOME					|  AWAY
		P	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Accrington	42	16	3	3	41	19	11	3	6	29	22	+29	87 (P)
2	Luton	43	16	2	4	59	23	8	9	4	31	21	+46	83
3	Wycombe	43	11	5	5	42	31	11	7	4	34	24	+21	78
4	Exeter	43	14	3	4	31	17	9	4	9	29	32	+11	76
5	Notts Co	43	13	6	2	39	18	7	7	8	27	27	+21	73
6	Lincoln	42	11	7	3	35	21	7	7	7	22	22	+14	68
7	Coventry	42	12	3	5	31	19	8	5	9	22	22	+12	68
8	Mansfield	43	10	8	3	40	24	7	8	7	22	24	+14	67
9	Swindon	43	8	5	8	26	35	11	2	9	38	29	0	64
10	Carlisle	43	7	8	6	29	21	9	6	7	29	30	+7	62
11	Colchester	43	9	6	7	30	23	7	7	7	22	26	+3	61
12	Newport Co	41	7	10	4	28	22	7	5	8	23	30	-1	57
13	Crawley	43	8	4	10	29	28	8	5	8	25	33	-7	57
14	Cambridge U	42	11	5	5	29	20	4	7	10	17	35	-9	57
15	Stevenage	43	8	9	5	39	26	5	4	12	17	34	-4	52
16	Cheltenham	43	8	6	8	30	25	5	6	10	32	36	+1	51
17	Crewe	43	8	4	9	29	31	6	1	15	28	42	-16	47
18	Yeovil	42	8	4	9	27	23	4	6	11	28	44	-12	46
19	Port Vale	43	7	6	9	25	27	4	7	10	22	32	-12	46
20	Morecambe	42	6	8	7	22	26	3	9	9	19	28	-13	44
21	Forest Green	42	9	2	10	31	32	3	5	13	18	38	-21	43
22	Grimsby	43	5	9	8	18	25	5	3	13	18	40	-29	42
23	Barnet	43	6	6	9	19	25	3	4	15	21	40	-25	37
24	Chesterfield	42	7	3	11	25	31	2	5	14	19	43	-30	35