MIKE FLYNN SAYS: Bad week but we have to stay positive

Obviously we all knew that Chris had a court case coming up but the details of the offences that he’s admitted to and the length of the sentence have come as a shock to most of us.

It doesn’t reflect well on the club and I think they had no option but to terminate his contract.

But it’s a weird one because the Chris we knew around the dressing room and the training pitch and the one who committed these crimes are two different people.

He’s obviously got some serious problems but he pleaded guilty and owned up to it all and I just hope he gets the help he needs while he’s inside.

We’re going to miss Chris in the last few weeks of the season because, even though he hasn’t been at his best this season, he is always likely to get you a goal.

And goals are what we need after three defeats without scoring in the past two weeks.

It means we will have to win all three of our remaining games, starting with Dagenham & Redbridge at Rodney Parade this afternoon.

It’s going to be tough but I can tell you that the belief is still there that we can do it.

We’re as good as four points behind because of our goal difference but we have got three winnable games so it is still all to play for, particularly if we win and Plymouth lose today.

It is frustrating because we haven’t been as good lately. We should have got something out of the Exeter game and we gave Hartlepool too much of a head start.

We’ve just not got that killer instinct this season and that’s the be all and end all.

I can understand how the fans are feeling because we have gone from eight or nine points clear in the play-offs to three points behind.

It’s a big swing and I’m frustrated because I don’t know how many chances I’m going to have left to make the play-offs.

At 5pm today we’ll have a much better picture of what’s going to happen but, one thing is certain, we won’t give up until it’s mathematically impossible to get there.

As well as Chris being out we will also have to do without Max Porter and Ismail Yakubu for the remaining three games, which is another big blow.

They have been two key players and are both great pros but we will hopefully have Yan Klukowski, Lee Minshull fit and ready to return and I am also desperate to play.

I’ve been in training after a bit of a back problem last week and I’ve had no reaction so I’m ready to play.

I know I’ve still got something to offer the side but it’s not me who picks the team.

And nothing has been said to me about next season or, as far as I know, to any of the players.

None of us know what is happening but that is an incentive to everyone to finish the season on a high to earn a new deal or get interest from elsewhere.

Nobody is going to be throwing in the towel.

Talking of towels, Byron Anthony and I took the youth team down to Barry Island on Wednesday to do some hard yards on the beach.

They’ve been a bit sloppy in recent games and they haven’t worked as hard as they could have so we thought they needed something to shake them up.

It wasn’t a punishment, it was about making them realise the amount of hard work needed to win football matches again.

It was a bit cold because the sun wasn’t out but we had a great day. The boys loved it and they all ended up in the sea afterwards.

It will hopefully be good preparation for today’s local derby at Cheltenham.

The academy know more about their future than us senior players because we’ve offered some of them contracts for next season and let the others know that they need to find something else.

It’s a tough part of the job but I’ve had it done to me so I knew how to approach it and we’re trying to help everyone as much as we can.

They’re at the opposite end of their careers to me and I’ve told them what a tough life it can be as a footballer.

But it’s worth it for moments like we had at Wembley two years ago and we’re all still hoping that we could yet experience something like that again next month.