FORMER manager Justin Edinburgh has called for the Newport County AFC board of directors to give current boss Michael Flynn the time to succeed at Rodney Parade.

Flynn, who masterminded the Great Escape from relegation in May, is the sixth man to take charge of the club since Edinburgh ended his four-year tenure in 2015.

The Exiles have had three managers in each of the past two seasons and that lack of stability has led to successive 22nd-place finishes in League Two.

And Edinburgh, who guided County to promotion in 2013, believes the club must give Flynn the same backing and time they gave him during his successful reign in south Wales.

“They will obviously look to use that momentum from last season and the new pitch will be big,” said Edinburgh after his Northampton Town team beat County 2-1 in Saturday’s final pre-season friendly.

“Momentum will be key and I think they’re in good hands.

“What it [the Great Escape] did do was keep the club moving in the right direction.

“If they had gone out of the League it could have been a disaster for the football club.

“So I think everyone hopefully has learned valuable lessons from that.

“And all I’d hope is that the football club give Flynny the same amount of time as they did me,” added the Cobblers boss. “Because to get to a level and become consistent you need the opportunity to do that.

“And there was times at the club under my reign when we went a long period of time without a win.

“But I think that people were calm and collected and stayed loyal to me and the outcome was a successful time for myself and the club.

“So I hope they give Flynny that opportunity, which I’m sure they will, and I think they’ll reap the rewards from that.”

Edinburgh is convinced that Flynn and coach Wayne Hatswell are the right people to help County progress.

“I had four years there and that’s not very common at any football club,” he said.

“And if there’s been stability followed by a lot of chop and change you can lose your way.

“But I think now they’ve got the right people in charge with the right mentality and they know what they want from their players so I think they can get that stability back now.

“From what I’ve seen I’ve got no doubt they will be more than capable of holding their own in the League again.”

County led through Lamar Reynolds at Sixfields but the hosts fought back to win through late goals from Chris Long and Leon Barnett.

“It was a good workout,” added Edinburgh. “Newport gave a very good account of themselves, which we expected.

“It was a very good test and Newport were extremely unlucky to lose the game.”

County begin their League Two campaign at Stevenage this Saturday.