Three weeks on and the pictures of the infamous Crawley brawl are still etched on the brain of every City fan.

But there is one image amid the melee that stands out as the fists fly around him.

Michael Flynn is seen right at the front of the argy-bargy, doing his best to calm the protagonists down.

Looking every inch the sensible captain, Flynn’s role in the lawless scenes is clearly seen as a peacemaker.

When the roll of dishonour became clear, the Welshman’s name was rightly nowhere near.

But then Flynn did not want to run the risk of earning himself a ban during a pivotal spell of games.

It’s not just City’s future that has been up in the air of late. The combative midfielder, like several of his team-mates, has no clue yet where he will be playing his football next season.

He cannot afford to run the risk of making himself unavailable for selection for a single minute.

Of all those soon to be out of contract, Flynn is probably the most interesting one.

Phil Parkinson is keeping his cards close to his chest regarding those he sees in his plans beyond May. But in most cases, you can have a pretty good guess.

For Flynn, though, it is nowhere near as clear cut.

A regular – and seemingly a favourite – for Parkinson until that terrible stomach illness at Christmas, Flynn has found himself in and out in 2012.

Since getting injured at Barnet, he has started only four games and was subbed at half-time at Shrewsbury last week. On Saturday, he came off the bench just to mop up stoppage time.

Ricky Ravenhill’s arrival on a long-term basis has thrown up a huge question mark over one of Valley Parade’s biggest characters. Ravenhill, a similar type of player, has played every game when fit.

Flynn remains level-headed about the unsettling scenario. An experienced campaigner, he has been through it before.

He said: “There was talk of a new contract about November time but nothing’s been mentioned since.

“Obviously the most important thing for everybody is to make sure we are still in League Two for next season.

“I understand the club’s stance. They want to be guaranteed safety first and foremost and everything else has to wait.

“They might want to re-evaluate things now and see where they go from here. They’ve brought Ricky in so maybe things have changed. The manager has always said positive things about me but we’ll have to wait.”

Having missed most of last season injured, the bout of gastritis which hit Flynn hard the week before Christmas was a cruel and unexpected blow. He had missed only two games up to that point and both through suspension.

Suddenly that rhythm was disjointed by three nightmare weeks when he could barely swallow a mouthful.

“The illness knocked me sideways,” admitted Flynn. “But since coming back from that, to be fair, I think I’ve done fairly well.

“I wouldn’t say I’m up to full speed but I was pleased with my performances in games like Torquay away and Southend at home the other week.

“I’ve still played 30 odd games of the season even though I missed two months through illness and injury.

“I think that’s a good return and up until I got ill, I’d pretty much played every week. I felt I was getting back to my best and then this thing struck me down out of the blue.

“Now I don’t know what’s going to happen or what the club are thinking. But let’s get these last few games out of the way and hopefully I’ll still be here to get a good pre-season under my belt and be flying and ready to go again.”