JOSH Sheehan has refused to rule out Newport County AFC making the League Two play-offs again this season, but he admits they've left themselves with very little margin for error.

County would have climbed to 10th in the table with a win at Grimsby Town on Tuesday but the 4-2 defeat saw them slip down to 16th.

The Exiles are now 12 points behind Colchester United and Northampton Town in the last two play-off places with only two games in hand.

But with 13 games still to play and 39 points available, Sheehan is not giving up hope of another top-seven finish.

Michael Flynn’s men sealed seventh spot on the final day of last season after ending the campaign with a 10-game unbeaten run, winning six and drawing four to finish on 71 points.

And Sheehan believes history can repeat itself.

“The motivation is high because we know what we can do and we don’t feel like we’ve hit the heights of last year,” said the 24-year-old.

“But there’s no reason why we can’t do the same again and end of a high.

“We had high expectations with the start we had and we’ve had a bit of a blip mid-season so we haven’t left much margin for error but we know what we can do.

“We’ve still got a couple of games in hand and if we can go on a run like we did at the end of last season, then anything is possible.

“We’ve gone on long unbeaten runs before and that’s what we’ve got to do again now.

“But we know we’ve got to start winning games and get that momentum going.”

South Wales Argus:

Sheehan is keen to take the positives from Tuesday’s defeat as he prepares for this afternoon’s match at 19th-placed Oldham Athletic, who won 1-0 at Rodney Parade in November.

“We were disappointed but the positive thing is that we scored two and we know that if we can shut up shop at the back, we’ve got a good chance going forward,” said the midfielder.

“We want to win every game, but we do want to get one over on Oldham – especially after they beat us at home. It would be nice to take the three points home.”

The Latics are managed by former Exiles assistant boss Dino Maamria, someone Sheehan has a good relationship with during his time in Newport.

“You know that his teams are going to be hard working, they’re going to be fit and they’re going to fight for everything,” he said.

“We know what we’re up against but if we’re on our game and we’re up to it, we’re confident we can get the three points.

“I like Dino,” he added. “I got on well with him and I’ll always have fond memories of his time here because I was playing and I was scoring.

“It might add an edge to it because the fans will have a bit of banter with Dino, but we want to win every game – regardless of who it’s against.”

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