NEWPORT County AFC captain Joss Labadie has been backed to return fitter and stronger from a suspected anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injury.

Labadie’s prognosis should become clearer today but manager Michael Flynn fears that the skipper could be out for up to a year.

The Exiles boss revealed the news after Saturday’s 1-1 home draw with Luton Town.

Josh Sheehan, who returned from ACL surgery in January after 11 months out, opened the scoring in the second-minute but Dan Potts levelled for the visitors midway through the first half.

Labadie picked up the injury in training last week and missed the Hatters’ visit to Rodney Parade.

“We’re waiting on the scan results for Joss but it doesn’t look good, if I’m honest,” said Flynn.

“He’s got a suspected ACL injury and I’ll know more on Monday.

“It’s anything between six and 12 months so it’s not good news.

“It’s a big blow. He’s had a great season and he’s a fantastic lad. He’s respected by all the players and by myself because he comes in and gives his all.

“It was a training ground incident. A player landed on top of him. These things happen.”

Aaron Collins was the star man on his return to the County starting XI and he said the whole squad is behind their captain.

“All the lads are gutted for him,” said the 20-year-old. “We went out to try to get three points and hopefully put a smile on his face.

“It’s not nice because he’s a great player and a huge part of the team but he’ll come back stronger.”

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Striker Paul Hayes (above) also missed Saturday’s match but he’s likely to be back in contention for next week’s home clash with Crewe Alexandra.

“Hayesy’s calf was too tight to risk so that’s short-term,” added Flynn.

“We could have maybe risked him but there’s every chance that he would have gone and pulled it and missed rest of the season.”

County are now seven points below the play-off places with nine games to play and Flynn insists his players will keep fighting for a top-seven finish.

“I can’t fault the players,” he said. “They’re a great group and they give they’re all for this football club.

“I don’t think you saw any players who were hard to motivate – that’s the last of my problems.

“We’ve got another two home games in a row now and we’ve got to start winning some games and picking up some points but it was a fantastic performance from the players.

“We’ll keep fighting,” he added. “A few of the teams above us have got to play each other again and we’ve just got to keep going.

“We’ve got a big home game next Saturday against Crewe and we’ll look to get the three points and build again.”