In-form Diamonds full of confidence ahead of tough test against leaders Carlton

But it was a day of frustration for boss Elliot Sandy, who felt his side should have claimed all three points.

"It’s a good point, but it’s the circumstances of the game that’s most disappointing," said the Diamonds boss.

"Basford go down to 10 men which put us on the front foot, then we get a penalty - and we miss the penalty.

"That is then followed by a number of good chances in the second half that we haven’t taken.

"But Basford are a good side, and sometimes it’s really hard to take on 10 men, but maybe on the day our quality wasn’t up to our usual standards,."

This Saturday Diamonds, who are 14th and now six points clear of the bottom four, face another big test when runaway league leaders Carlton Town are the visitors to Hayden Road.

The Nottinghamshire side moved eight points clear at the top at the weekend following a 1-0 win at ninth-placed Rugby Borough.

Carlton have lost just one of their past 10 league games, a run that includes a 3-2 home victory over Diamonds at the start of November - and that was the last time Rushden lost a league game.

Away from home, Carlton have won nine of their 11 games - including at Corby Town last month - with much travelled striker Ashley Chambers the league’s leading scorer on 11 goals, two ahead of Diamonds sharp-shooter Bruno Andrade.

Saturday's clash is Diamonds' last home game before Christmas, and with the league leaders in town, Sandy is keen to get as many fans as possible down to Hayden Road.

"The last time we lost a game was at their place last month when we felt we should have got something out of it," said Sandy.

"We’re full of confidence at the moment having gone five games unbeaten and having kept three clean sheets in a row.

"At home we feel invincible and believe we can beat anyone on our day, so we urge everyone to come out and support us.

"We play good attacking football and rest assured we’ll give it everything we can come Saturday."