CAPTAIN Joss Labadie has promised the Newport County AFC fans that there will be no repeat of Tuesday’s unacceptable performance at Mansfield Town.

Labadie apologised to the 57 travelling fans who saw their side crushed 5-0 at the One Call Stadium on Tuesday night and to those who have supported the Exiles throughout the season.

And he vowed that the players would give everything they could between now and the end of the season to keep their flagging play-off hopes alive.

“It was tough out there and everyone in the dressing room knows that it wasn’t good enough,” said Labadie.

“There were a few home truths said [in the dressing room] and I can only apologise to not only the travelling fans but the fans back home who have supported us all season.

“The result and the performance was not on and I can promise you we won’t see a repeat of that again this year.

“And I can promise you that all the lads will pull together and we will fight from here on in and hopefully have an upturn in results.”

The skipper pointed to the way the team finished last season – completing the Great Escape from relegation on the final day against Notts County – as an example of the Exiles’ fighting spirit.

“The good thing about this bunch of boys is that we never know when we’re beaten,” he said.

“Nobody had us to turn it around last year but hopefully we can do the same again and all the hard work we’ve put in won’t be wasted.

“We’ve overachieved all season and we’ve worked hard,” added the 27-year-old.

“We’ve had an off night but we won’t dwell on it too much.

“We’ll work hard on the training field and hopefully get a positive result at the weekend.”

South Wales Argus:

Notts County return to Rodney Parade on Saturday and Labadie wants the team to recapture the spirit of the Great Escape and the form they showed in two games against Premier League Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup.

“I didn’t see it coming,” he admitted. “Maybe people will say it’s a bit of an FA Cup hangover from such a good performance at Wembley last week but it’s not on.

“There’s no excuses, we know we weren’t good enough and it’s something we’ll address in training and rectify at the weekend.”

County have lost three successive League Two away matches at promotion contenders Lincoln City, Colchester United and Mansfield.

They can now look forward to nine of their final 14 fixtures being at Rodney Parade but Labadie refused to us their tough schedule for recent results.

“That’s part of being a professional footballer and there are no excuses from us – we’ll go again in the next game,” he said.

“It’s good that we’ve got so many home games left. It should give us an opportunity to put things right and hopefully put a smile back on the fans’ faces.”