MICHAEL Flynn has given Newport a style makeover this season – and it’s paying dividends.

The Exiles head to Valley Parade in second spot with five wins out of seven.

It follows a change in philosophy from the former Bantam, who is now into his fourth full season leading his hometown club.

Flynn made a conscious decision over the long enforced break to move away from the functional method of play that has almost been forced upon Newport by the notorious Rodney Parade pitch.

He said: “We’re playing some really attractive football.

“We had a good look at things over the summer and where we wanted to develop our players. We spent a lot of time on it.

“It affects recruitment and the players we keep and we went through a lot of patterns of play and formations, plan As and Bs and so on.

“We’re notoriously not one of the big spenders in the league. We’ve almost had to wheel and deal to bring the right players in and get lucky with one or two.

“But because of how our pitch goes, too often last season we’d take that gritty, rugged approach into away games. We didn’t have to because the surface was a lot better.

“I don’t want to be labelled like that, if I’m honest.”

Flynn admitted the state of Newport’s ground, which they share with two rugby clubs, had always been a factor in his recruitment.

“We’ve almost got to do it for two seasons in one,” he added. “We’ve got nice pitches and then we’ve got one where it’s gone completely.

“It’s a tough one but we’ve gone through it and we want to play good, attacking football but without compromising the defensive qualities we’ve had as well.

“We’ve started well and the way we’re playing has been a massive plus.”

Tristan Abrahams leads the way with seven goals, including four in a Carabao Cup run that saw Newport topple Swansea and Watford.