Newport County fans who haven’t been around too long might have become accustomed with romantic cup battles and glory.

Under homegrown hero Mike Flynn, the Exiles have twice been FA Cup giant killers and now have another crack at the League Two play-off final at Wembley on Monday – two years after heartbreakingly late extra-time agony at the hands of Tranmere Rovers.

But after an uncharacteristically dull period under Flynn last season, the manager has shared how a change in approach in the face of adversity has come up trumps for his charges.

Last season – when they dropped to 14th, Newport’s passing accuracy was the lowest of any team in League Two at just 58%.

This season, it has risen to 68% – the biggest increase of any team in the entire Football League. Perhaps most impressive of all is that Flynn’s men have managed to change their style on a Rodney Parade surface which at one stage was so bad they had to relocate to the Cardiff City Stadium.

Speaking to Sky Sports, the manager outlined how a change in approach has been crucial for the team and for him personally.

“It has been a huge change, when I first arrived here it was do or die,” he said. “You had no time to improve technique or do too many tactical things. We had to focus on pulling together, otherwise we would have been relegated and we probably would not have come back.

“Now we have changed the squad slightly. In the summer we were able to move a couple out and really nail down the players we wanted, who were more comfortable on the ball, and adaptable to new roles.”

Liam Shephard joined from Forest Green Rovers to play on the right side of a back three, while a talented Scott Twine – since recalled by relegated Swindon Town – was brought in to pull the strings in the midfield and delight fans with his superb solo efforts, and Brandon Cooper was also deployed as a footballing centre-half.

Josh Sheehan has excelled in Flynn’s new approach, and could be on the cusp of a Wales call up should he help the Exiles finish the job against a more pragmatic Morecambe side.

“We have got people in who are more comfortable with the football,” Flynn explained. “That is no disrespect to the other players who were fantastic for us – but it has been a slow process with the recruitment because we are not the biggest payers and you have to make the best of what you have.

“But we have played some outstanding football this season. The boys know the plans and the passing patterns that we go through. It gives them a lot of options.

“The way football has gone, the pressure from supporters, they don’t want to see that [a poor style of football].

“I did not want to be labelled as a long-ball manager because it is hard to shake off whether it is true or not. As soon as you get labelled with it, I think it is damaging.”

Flynn is particularly proud of the way the team responded to dealing with a poor pitch and losing key players in January.

But County know all about doing it the hard way, and up against a counter-attacking Morecambe side in the mould of Flynn’s County sides of old – he is sure it will be just as stern a test as their last Wembley outing.

“We are going to need that bit of quality in the final third to open them up and have one-on-one situations where we can exploit them,” he added.

It might be a new-look County side in approach, but there is plenty of experience to fall back on should the game eat into the dying moments again.

“It is whoever makes the least mistakes, whoever is most clinical.”