NEWPORT County AFC manager Michael Flynn admitted his team has “gone off the boil” and desperately needs an injection of fresh blood after Saturday’s 3-2 defeat at Crewe Alexandra.

County led 2-1 at Gresty Road thanks to goals from Antoine Semenyo and Padraig Amond before conceding an 88th-minute penalty and a stoppage-time winner.

The Exiles beat former Premier League champions Leicester City in the FA Cup last week, but a fifth defeat in six games in League Two means they stay in 13th in the table.

Their play-off hopes are fading fast and Flynn is adamant that he needs to bring in some new faces – or possibly an old one with rumoured interest in former academy star Regan Poole – before next week’s home clash with Exeter City.

Asked if midfield duo Andrew Crofts and Joss Labadie would be fit to face the Grecians, the manager said: “I’m not too hopeful. We’ll see if I can get somebody in because we’re weak.

“We need people in because these have gone off the boil.

“We’ve seen how much they defended the other day against Leicester and it was near enough the same team.

“Buts [Dan Butler] came in for Vashon [Neufville] and that should have strengthened us.

“But we were nowhere near it in the first half, so you can imagine my frustration.

“We should have gone in more than 1-0 down. Then we got back into it but I can’t make any excuses for the two goals we conceded [at the death].

“They were amateurish, poor, whatever you want to call it. It was terrible.”

Loan signings Charlie Cooper, Cameron Pring and Mark Harris have all returned to their parent clubs and only Neufville has arrived so far this month.

“I tried to get someone in [before Crewe] but we couldn’t do it in time,” said Flynn.

“We’ll see if that’s still alive in the next couple of days.

“Hopefully we’ll have at least one in before next week. I think I need three.

“At the minute I haven’t really spent anything because three have gone back so I hope the funds are there, because I need it.

“New faces will help pick people up and I want to improve the squad as well. We’re a mid-table team at the minute, at best.”

Comparing Saturday’s defeat to the stunning win over Leicester, the Exiles boss said: “Anybody can have a one-off on TV but this is when it really matters. The league is the bread and butter.

“It’s happened too many times now. You look at the last three league games – Crawley, Stevenage and Crewe. We should be on an extra eight points.

“And that’s not an excuse. If we had a bit about us, we’d have an extra eight points. It’s as simple as that. But we haven’t.

“I’ve got to pick them up now and get them going, because they’re going to be down,” he added.

“It’s all good me having a go but they’re my players and I’ll do whatever I can to help them.

“But they’ve got to start cutting out the mistakes and start delivering because they’re too inconsistent at the moment. I don’t know what I’m going to get week in and week out.”