MANAGER Michael Flynn has sent a rocket to Forest Green Rovers before today's League Two clash at The New Lawn by insisting they are the bigger club.

But Flynn has said there is no rivalary between the two Severnside clubs.

Newport County had a multi-millionaire chairman when they came up from the National League in Lottery winner Les Scadding but Scadding left the club last year and sent them into chaos.

They eventually survived financially due to a supporters trust takeover.

Forest Green have eco tycoon Dale Vince as their chairman who is also pumping millions into the club, and, despite this, County still claim the higher ground over their Gloucestershire rivals.

The two teams have faced each other just 10 times since 2005 with three wins apiece and four draws during that time.

Today’s clash is the first league meeting between the sides since the 2012-2013 season, when County were promoted to the Football League via the play-off final.

Flynn was a key man in the Exiles midfield back then and he played in the 2-1 win at The New Lawn on Boxing Day 2012 and the shock 5-0 home defeat to Rovers on New Year’s Day 2013.

Since then the only competitive meeting was the Checkatrade Trophy tie in August this year when Forest Green beat a second-string County 2-0.

But Rovers’ promotion to League Two in the summer has reignited feelings of ill-will amongst some supporters towards the Gloucestershire village side.

County’s near neighbours are perceived to have bought their way to success under millionaire green energy guru Dale Vince.

And the fact that the two teams have competed for signings in recent seasons, with the likes of David Pipe, Darren Jones and Yan Klukowski playing for both, has added an edge to today’s first ever Football League meeting.

But Flynn’s sole focus is on earning three points this afternoon.

“I remember the one we won and then when we lost 5-0 at home as well,” he recalled.

“It wasn’t a very nice feeling but for me there’s no rivalry whatsoever.

“It’s not very often that I say this but I think we’re a bigger club.

“It’s a game of football where I want to go and get three points and we’ll give them the full respect they deserve.”

Flynn compared the impact that Vince has had at Forest Green with former chairman Les Scadding’s legacy at Rodney Parade.

“It’s a fairy tale if you’re a Forest Green fan,” he said.

“They’ve got a millionaire owner who has put his money in and done things for the village so that can only be a positive.

“What Dale Vince has done is created a legacy with the stadium and what they’re trying to do with the training ground.

“It’s pretty similar to when Les came in here and I just wish for Les’ sake that we had a training ground built.

“What Les did was fantastic for us and I don’t think he always gets the recognition he deserves.”

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A total of 793 supporters will make the short trip to Nailsworth and Flynn promises that they and the home fans will get to see the real Newport County this afternoon.

“I don’t think we did ourselves justice when we played Forest Green last time,” he added.

“They had just come off the back of a hammering and they were going to rest a few but they felt that they couldn’t do it.

“That was their decision and it paid off. They beat us and they deserved to beat us that night.

“But I’m pretty certain that it’s going to be a totally different Newport County team this time.

“And the positive is that we did get to see them at full strength.”

Mark Cooper’s men are currently 22nd in the table with just six points from 12 games but the Exiles boss is certainly not taking anything for granted ahead of the match.

“It’s going to be a tough game,” said Flynn. “Mark has done very well getting them promoted out of the Conference.

“They are on a bad run but they’ve got some very good players there.

“If we think that we’re just going to turn up and get three points then I’ll tell you now – we won’t.

“They can hurt you if you let them play and maybe take your foot off the gas. We definitely won’t be doing that.

“There’s three points up for grabs and I want to get as many points on the board as quickly as possible because then we can start looking at different things.”

Flynn also predicts that Forest Green will avoid an immediate return to non-league football.

“They’ve spent some money and I’m pretty certain that they will get out of it because they will have the funds to strengthen again in January,” he added.

“And Mark is somebody who knows the league with Swindon.

“I think they will get out of it; I just hope it doesn’t start on Saturday.”