Mike Flynn insists he will offer no advice on how Newport County’s players should cope with the club’s day of destiny on Saturday.
The caretaker manager – who has taken his team to the brink of survival – must inspire them for one last heroic deed at home to Notts County.
If Newport can win, then they will preserve their status in the Football League, but anything less could mean final day relegation if similarly threatened Hartlepool manage to beat League Two title-chasing Doncaster Rovers.
But Flynn says: “The players have got to cope with handling the anxiety and the tension in their own way.
“I’m not going to start telling them how to cope with things like that. There is an enjoyable atmosphere around the place, which helps. And what they’ve got to do now is rest right, eat right and prepare like it’s a cup final.
“It’s massive, let’s not dress it up. It’s huge. We fought so hard to get back into the Football League and we achieved that four years ago.
Now it’s time to stay in the League.
“There’s been a lot of blood and tears spilt and so much hard work over the years from so many amazing fans and we don’t want that to go to waste now on the last game of the season because I really think we can build on this come next season.”
Hartlepool will stay up if they beat Doncaster and Newport lose, overcoming the two-point gap between the clubs.
Equally, Newport will also be relegated if Hartlepool win and County draw, with the single strike goal difference between the clubs being overturned in Hartlepool’s favour.
It means Flynn will be keeping an ear tuned to the Victoria Ground, as he admits the scoreline in the other match could alter his tactical thinking.
“If I’m not paying attention to what’s going on at Hartlepool, I’m sure the fans will let me know.
“It will either be dead silent if they’re winning or it will be a carnival atmosphere if they’re losing. That might impact on the game and the substitutions I’m going to be making.
“If we’re chasing the game, I might need to throw another striker on and if we’re winning, I might need an extra defender. We’ll see how the game is going.
“It would be the perfect scenario if we were 4-0 up and Hartlepool were 3-0 down, but we know football doesn’t work like that. You don’t always get what you want, but I’m sure the boys will finish the job because they’ve been excellent.
Hartlepool’s own interim manager – Matthew Bates, who succeeded the sacked former Cardiff boss Dave Jones – is also insisting his own players will cope with the tension of the day.
Heb said: “We’ve tried not to talk about the severity of the situation.
“I don’t think that helps – they know themselves, they don’t need us to tell them.
“We just want them to play with no fear and I think they did that at Cheltenham last week (in a 1-0 defeat).
“There is no point in putting fear into them.
“I said last week that there have been no motivational speeches, no crisis meetings – our attitude has just been to get them ready to play.
“That performance at Cheltenham, compared to the one the week before, was remarkable really.
“Everything we asked of them they did – second balls, being aggressive, everything. They’ve taken on board all we’ve wanted them to do.
“It showed what we can do and I’m more confident now than before that we can beat Doncaster. That is the truth
“The players showed the fight, passion and desire and we have to show it again.”
