MICHAEL Flynn admitted it took him “about an hour” to shake off Newport’s Wembley heartache.

Flynn steered the Welsh side to last season’s League Two play-off final where they suffered the agony of losing to a goal in the final minute of extra-time from Tranmere’s Connor Jennings.

It was a bitter blow for the Exiles and the former City skipper, who has been at the helm of his hometown club since March 2017.

But he refused to let the disappointment linger for too long.

Flynn said: “It is what it is and you can’t change it.

“I got asked how long I took to get over it and my honest answer was about an hour. There was no point dwelling on it.

“That’s not to say that it didn’t really hurt because it did. But I had to put it to the back of my mind.

“I shook the hand of every Tranmere player and their staff as they went up.

“I saw my little boy crying in the crowd and you start switching into father mode then.

“It was a bad feeling but nothing can be done. You’ve got to move on and straight away I was thinking about the next season.”

With expectations higher, Newport head to Valley Parade just below the Bantams in 11th spot. But they have gone off the boil with three straight losses in the league.

The Exiles have been hard hit by injuries and Flynn even considered playing himself in the Leasing.com Trophy game at Brighton.

Former Bantams midfielder Matty Dolan instead played centre half as they beat the Seagulls under-21s on penalties after a goalless draw.

Flynn said: “We haven’t been great the last few in the league but we’ve had injuries to key players and that’s not helped.

“But we’ll get it right and we’ll be tough to beat again soon enough. Hopefully that starts this weekend.”