PAUDIE O’Connor has reminded Levi Sutton not to take Twitter criticism to heart after his Newport lapse.

The hard-working midfielder has been a key component in City’s recent surge in form.

But he was subjected to a few abusive messages on social media after his stoppage-time hand ball gave away the penalty that cost them at the Cardiff City Stadium.

The vast majority of City fans were quick to rally round with supportive replies, including several team-mates.

And O’Connor insists Sutton should not dwell on the negative few as the Bantams aim to bounce back from their first loss in seven at Carlisle.

“We’ve all been around the game long enough to know we all make mistakes,” said the City skipper.

“It’s not as if he’s gone to do that on purpose. It was maybe a bit of a rush of blood to the head and unfortunate for him.

“But he’s big enough and bold enough to know that it’s part and parcel of the game.

“He’s been class for us these past couple of months, so it won’t be held against him.”

The obvious thing, of course, is to take no notice of the odd dig from a Twitter troll. But O’Connor knows that is easy saying that.

“You’ve got to take it with a pinch of salt. If you do get sucked into reading too much into social media these days, it can be pretty poor for your mental health.

“Sometimes it can be easier said than done, especially with our generation of under-25s. We’ve grown up with it.

“But you can have 100 positive comments and that one negative one will stick in the back of your mind for a few days.

“We’ve all agreed to try not to take it to heart and there were a lot of positive comments after the game for him.

“You’ve got to take it into perspective. A few of us spoke about it afterwards and a lot of the time these negative comments are coming off a person who maybe has had a tough day at work.

“The result will mean just as much to him as it does to us and seeing that last-minute penalty go in has triggered something.

“But they are free to say what they want. That is the world of social media.”

Joint boss Conor Sellars made it clear that there has been no finger-pointing within the dressing room over Sutton’s error.

Sellars said: “He felt like he had let the team down. But Levi has been superb for us and it’s just one he’s got to quickly learn from move on.

“I’m sure he will never get himself in that position again. That’s what it is about, learning from your mistakes.

“I’ve not see much of it (on Twitter) but I’d imagine the fans will be right behind him and letting him know how good he’s been for the 16 games – and not let a second in one game determine what he’s like as a player.

“We all make mistakes, we’re all humans and humans play the game.

“We’ve got to accept that sometimes we may have ridden our luck in certain games and we’ve been punished in this one.”

City dropped a couple of places to 12th – one above Carlisle, whose shocking run of eight without a win has seen them plunge from top spot.

O’Connor sees that as proof of how quickly the League Two table can change over the remainder of the season.

“Look at the league table and there’s probably only just double figures in it between first and 10th,” he added.

“If you can do what we did in February and put four or five wins together back to back, you can jump halfway up there.

“But as we know, it can also go the other way so it’s up to us to keep our performances where they have been.”