NEWPORT County AFC hope to give their travelling fans a reason to party at Carlisle United this afternoon.

A win for County would mean they secure their League Two status as long as relegation rivals Hartlepool United fail to beat Cheltenham Town.

And caretaker manager Michael Flynn hopes the Exiles fans are celebrating after the 280-mile journey.

“Fair play to the fans – they’re special,” said Flynn. “I’m just hoping that we can get the result that will make that journey home a lot quicker, or a lot longer if they stop off at every pub!

“I don’t care where we do it,” he added. “I want to do it as soon as possible.

“I’d rather we do it on Saturday and then have a more fun and enjoyable day the following Saturday.

“But I’m not even thinking about that at the moment.

“We’ve got a tough game and all our concentration is getting three points at Carlisle and then what will be will be after the game.”

Flynn, who travelled north by train with the squad yesterday, expects a tough test against play-off chasing Carlisle.

“They’re a very good team,” said the Exiles boss. “We’ve looked at their players and the way they play and they’re strong.

“They’ve got some very good League Two players and a good manager in Keith Curle.

“They started the season in unbelievable form and we were the first to beat them.

“I’m hoping we’re the last side to beat them on Saturday and we get the three points because we need them to stay in the Football League.

“We’re approaching it exactly the same,” he added. “We want three points and if it gives us enough to be safe then great.

“We could be safe on Saturday or we could be back in the bottom two.

“You look at the best case scenario and the worst case scenario and the players will be fully aware of that.

“They won’t want all their hard work of getting out of the bottom two [to go to waste] and to be back there this Saturday.

“Hartlepool will be fighting for their lives and so will Cheltenham, who need a point to guarantee safety.

“That will be a nervy encounter and anything can happen there.

“But we’ll just concentrate on what we can do.”