Coventry Sphinx road trip test next as Diamonds strive to climb up the table
AFC Rushden & Diamonds are back on the road on Saturday as they travel to Coventry Sphinx aiming for the win that could lift them out of the Pitching-In Northern Premier League Midlands Division relegation zone (ko 3:03pm).
Elliot Sandy's side remain in the bottom four following their 2-2 draw against Loughborough Students at Hayden Road last weekend, Diamonds fighting back from 2-0 down to secure a point.
They go to a Sphinx side that are sitting 10th in the table, but in an incredibly tight division, they are just six points above 19th-placed Diamonds, who also have a game in hand.
So a win will be a big boost for Sandy, who believes the next few weeks of action will give a clearer indication of the progress of his team.
"This month we are playing against a lot of teams that are in and around us, so every game is a big game," Sandy told @AFCRD.
"By the end of November we will know more about where we are at, because we will have played the teams around us and we will have played our game in hand.
"It all settles down after a really busy spell, we had five away games in October with lots of injuries, and then we will end up playing eight games in November.
"So we will be quite happy to see the back of November, but we need to start putting more points on the board and getting more wins."
Having lost their past two games, early season front-runners Sphinx have slipped out of the play-off picture, but they could include ex-Diamond Jamal Adams in their line-up after he recently rejoined the club.
After all the injuries Diamonds have suffered in recent weeks, Sandy must hope that getting his first-choice team back out on the pitch will provide an upturn in fortunes.
Aidan Webster was back on the bench last weekend while Ty Ward is still two weeks away from a return.
"Coventry made a really good start to the season, but their recent form is very similar to ours," said Sandy.
"We know we have goals in us, but we have to make sure we are solid defensively. With so many recent injuries it’s great to have almost all our players back.
"In a tight league and with plenty of points to play for before Christmas, we need to get our togetherness back to where we were three weeks ago when we were on a five-game winning run."