NEWPORT County boss Michael Flynn hopes having the luxury of players returning from injury can help increase his side’s chances of returning to Wales with league points in the bag when squaring up to Swindon Town tomorrow.

Flynn’s side have already lost out at the Energy Check County Ground when losing 1-0 on September 11 in a Checkatrade Trophy group stage fixture.

Michael Doughty’s penalty with 13 minutes to play separated both teams on that day, though Newport were the side to progress to the knockout stage of the competition after defeating Plymouth and Chelsea’s Under-21s.

Flynn’s troops were swiftly knocked out of that competition though when losing against Cheltenham on Tuesday night, but Flynn hopes the return of key players Tyler Forbes and Joss Labadie can inspire County to a second successive league win tomorrow.

He told the club’s official website: “Tyler (Forbes) came back in and had 65 minutes (against Cheltenaham) which was good.

“Obviously, Joss (Labadie) came back, he’s fine after a good 20 minutes so a lot of positives.

“Joss has still got a long way to go but I won’t be putting any pressure on him. This was the first step of the final stage. He scored a penalty and looked confident - I’m really happy with him.

“I’m not going to rush him. It’s good to get 20 minutes into his legs, he’s been training very hard with us but we’ve got to make sure he doesn’t pull up with any other injuries. It’s not the knee I’m worried about – it’s the knee or the hamstring or the calf. He needs to get back in solidly and when he’s right, he’ll be involved regularly.”

Despite Labadie returning to competitive action on Tuesday night, Flynn admits returning him to County’s squad for tomorrow’s tie could prove risky.

A win for Swindon could see Richie Wellens’ men leap into the division’s top 10, while success for Newport could see them climb above Colchester into the automatic promotion frame.

With high stakes, Flynn is reluctant to risk one of his standout men ahead of a busy Christmas schedule which will see County play six times before the turn of the new year.

Tomorrow’s trip to Swindon is followed by the club’s FA Cup replay against Wrexham before league ties with MK Dons and Lincoln.

He added: “It will be slightly different “When he returns to League Two action” but I thought there was a high tempo in our game against Cheltenham. However, he is not quite ready to start yet.

“Hopefully we’ll have a few more back for Saturday against Swindon as well.”