Harriman urges in-form Diamonds to maintain levels as they head to Racing Club Warwick
Michael Harriman is warning his in-form AFC Rushden & Diamonds players they can’t afford to drop their levels as they prepare for a tricky-looking trip to mid-table Racing Club Warwick on Saturday.
Diamonds have picked up 10 points out of the last 12 available to them to rise up to seventh in the Pitching-In Northern Premier League Midlands Division.
The Hayden Road side were 3-1 winners over Coleshill last weekend, and now sit just two points outside the promotion play-off places.
They travel to a newly-promoted Racing side that are currently 11th, but are only four points adrift of Diamonds in a congested table, and Harriman knows they are more than capable of upsetting his side if they are not at their best.
"With the top two teams (Quorn and Corby Town) running away with the league, there are lots of teams pressing for a play-off place in the middle of the table,” said the Diamonds boss.
"That means you can’t afford to take anyone for granted and Racing Club could pose problems.
"But we just need to keep being solid and resilient."
Rushden will be without skipper Jarvis Wilson for the trip to the west midlands, after he picked up an eighth booking of the season, and a fifth in the league, against Coleshll.
And Harriman says the player needs to learn to modify his behaviour, as too many of thise cautions were for dissent or ungentlemanly conduct.
"We obviously want Jarvis on the pitch for us, but it’s a learning experience," said the Rushden boss.
"Most of his bookings have been down to talking to the referee or off the ball incidents."
Despite being without their captain, Diamonds will travel to Racing Club in confident mood, and Harriman believes his squad are now starting to believe they could be contenders for promotion this season after too many years of struggle.
"We knew we had to shift the mentality when we came in," said the Diamonds boss.
"But now there is a spring in the step when we come to training and we’ve stopped worrying about the opposition.
"It is now in our control, and we are putting together 90-minute performances.
"We obviously need to keep our feet on the ground but it's exciting times and there is more to come from us.
"I think this group are just hitting their stride and just starting to believe that they can do something special."