“LET me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is...fear itself.” So said American president Franklin Delano Roosevelt during his inauguration back in 1933.

Newport County AFC manager Michael Flynn may not have agreed his New Deal just yet, but one particular quote from the weekend had me recalling FDR and my A-Level history studies.

“The side I fear the most is ourselves, when we shoot ourselves in the foot and we aren’t clinical enough,” said Flynn after Saturday’s 1-1 draw with League Two leaders Exeter City.

“But we will give anyone a game if we are on it. Home or away, we’ll give anybody a game.”

That has already been proven this season with the Exiles beating previous table-toppers Plymouth Argyle and Crewe Alexandra at Rodney Parade and even giving Premier League West Ham United a scare in the Carabao Cup.

And Flynn’s men have lost just once in six away games so far this season, beating fifth-placed Forest Green Rovers and triumphing on penalties at League One Gillingham in the cup.

Saturday’s trip to Swindon Town will provide another real test of their promotion credentials.

The Robins are flying high in fourth place and in great form, but they have already lost twice in the league at the County Ground this season.

And the Exiles are certainly going into this match in much better shape than they were for the trips to Northampton Town, where they lost, and Macclesfield Town, where they claimed a slightly fortunate point.

The speculation linking Flynn with the Lincoln City job overshadowed the build-up to both of those matches and that is thankfully now behind us.

The club announced hours before the Macclesfield match confirming that they had allowed the manager to speak to an unnamed club, believed to be Lincoln, but that he had decided to stay.

We may never know how close Flynn was to swapping Rodney Parade for Sincil Bank, but at least the speculation is over – for now.

“Yeah, until the next sacking happens,” joked the Exiles boss, who was keen to play down the story.

“Everybody gets excited,” he added. “I think that’s the third one where I’ve been odds-on and the betting has been suspended.

“I must be doing something right – or I must be terrible at interviews!”

South Wales Argus:

As I wrote in this space last week, it is inevitable that Flynn will move on from his hometown club at some point.

He is doing far too good a job, along with assistant Wayne Hatswell and grizzled guru Lennie Lawrence, to not catch the eye of clubs higher up the pyramid.

Sooner rather than later, the right club will come calling and he will make the tough decision to uproot his young family and fulfil his ambitions of managing at a higher level.

The County board of directors will be well aware of that and they will, surely, have at least some tentative succession plans in place.

But, for the time being, we can concentrate on the football and what promises to be another exciting season.

As Flynn says, his side have shown that they are a match for anyone in this league and there is nothing to fear.

Despite losing the inspirational Mickey Demetriou to a long-term injury and the injudicious Ryan Inniss to a ban for biting, the defence is looking rock solid so far.

Tom King and new full-backs Ryan Haynes and Danny McNamara are looking like very astute signings and Scot Bennett was superb as he dropped into a back three on Saturday – showing the importance of his versatility to the squad.

There are issues in midfield, where Matty Dolan has been in and out due to injury concerns and Robbie Willmott has been too often consumed by defensive duties.

But Josh Sheehan has carried on where he left off last season with a series of outstanding displays in the deep-lying playmaker role.

Joss Labadie is beginning to get back to his best after recovering from a serious knee injury last season, and Corey Whitely is also starting to show what he can do.

Up front, the side has yet to fire consistently with only nine goals in 10 league games to date.

But Padraig Amond still has five goals in all competitions and Jamille Matt has yet to have a consistent run in the side due to injury and suspension, while Tristan Abrahams has shown enough to suggest that he is a real talent.

They haven’t been clinical enough so far but when the goals start to flow, County will strike fear into the hearts of their opponents.

Read more: Scot Bennett proud to be part of Newport County's defensive success