MICHAEL Flynn has been nominated for the Sky Bet League Two manager of the month award for September after guiding Newport County AFC to second in the table.

County earned 12 points from a possible 15 last month with the only blemish being a shock 6-0 home defeat to Yeovil Town on September 15.

The Exiles had an impeccable away record with wins at Port Vale, Oldham Athletic and Tranmere Rovers, and finished the month by coming back from 2-0 down to beat Cambridge United 4-2 in a thriller at Rodney Parade.

Flynn’s men are three points behind leaders Lincoln City ahead of tonight’s matches and Imps boss Danny Cowley is also up for the award alongside Bury boss Ryan Lowe and former County assistant manager Dino Maamria, who has moved Stevenage into fourth spot.

Macclesfield’s Mark Yates does not make the list after defeats to Crewe Alexandra, Stevenage, Lincoln and Morecambe.

The Silkmen are rooted to the bottom of the table with just three points from 10 games but they gained a creditable draw with unbeaten Forest Green Rovers on Saturday.

And Yates, whose side was thumped 8-0 at West Ham United in the Carabao Cup last week, will be hoping to upset the odds when his team take on County at Rodney Parade this evening.

“The group is together and we just need that bit of luck,” said Yates after Saturday’s draw.

“The fans were brilliant and if we get support like that on Tuesday then hopefully we can change the bigger picture.

“We’ve given ourselves a platform to build on and I see a determination in that dressing room.

“If it took [us going to] rock bottom [at West Ham] to make some of the lads understand where we are and what we need to do then it was a good experience. Maybe hitting the lows like that has focused us even more.

“It’ll be a tough trip to Newport,” he added. “They are a big, uncompromising team who’ve got threats all over the pitch.

“We’ve got to make sure we deal with that and try to play our football.”