Expectation will now be back on Diamonds

Andy Peaks believes he won’t have to say much to his AFC Rushden & Diamonds players when they head to bottom side Arlesey Town this weekend.

Diamonds are set to resume their push for promotion in the Evo-Stik South League East after suffering penalty shoot-out heartbreak in Tuesday’s NFA Hillier Senior Cup semi-final at local rivals Kettering Town. Diamonds went 2-0 up against their higher-ranked neighbours before the Poppies fought beat to lead 3-2, only for Liam Dolman to send the game into a shoot-out with a dramatic late leveller.

But Joel Gyasi missed the key penalty as Kettering prevailed at Latimer Park. However, boss Peaks fully expects his players to shake that off as they focus on their main priority for the campaign. With 16 games to go, Diamonds are three points clear at the top and are currently unbeaten in their last 15 league matches.

And Peaks knows the expectation will be back on his team tomorrow (Saturday). He said: “It’s a big job for us now because they were fantastic against a team from a league above on Tuesday.

They have now got to reproduce that form tomorrow against a team you would be expected to be beat. “On Tuesday, we were up against a pretty much full-strength Kettering team and we were probably not expected to do what we did. “However, at the weekend the expectation will be back on us. “But I won’t have to say a lot to them. They motivate themselves.

Source Jon Dunham - Northants Telegraph