Keep the faith and be positive, says AFC Rushden & Diamonds boss Peaks

Andy Peaks has urged everyone at AFC Rushden & Diamonds to “keep the faith and be positive” as his team try to maintain their surge up the Southern League Premier Central table.

A devastating run of form, which started back in October, continued with a 2-0 success over Stourbridge at Hayden Road last weekend.

That was Diamonds’ sixth win in their last seven matches and it moved them level on points with fifth-placed Alvechurch.

It’s now only goal difference keeping Peaks’ team out of the play-off places but another huge test awaits this weekend when they head to Rushall Olympic, who moved into third place with a 4-0 win over Stourbridge on Tuesday night.

Boss Peaks has been consistent from day one of the season that his new-look team would only get better as things went on.

He admitted he was disappointed when rumblings began after a below-par start to the season and he has warned everyone that things may not be plain sailing between now and the end of the campaign.

There are 13 games left for Diamonds to seal what many felt at one stage would be an unlikely play-off berth.

And Peaks said: “I know a lot of people doubted it.

“I always felt we would get better. I am realistic and I am always honest and I knew it would be a tough start because of the fixtures we had and the change in personnel we went through.

“I didn’t know how much better we would get but the one thing that probably disappointed me was that people were doubting me as a manager.

“To be fair, I have had a few people coming up to me in the last two or three weeks apologising for that. Sometimes it’s easy to moan as a football fan but it’s not as easy to go back and say you might have got it wrong.

“I do respect that but we all still have to be realistic.

“We are where we are and for us to get to where we want to be, we are going to need everyone around the place to not be despondent.

“We need everyone to keep the faith and be positive.

“There are going to be ups and downs during the next 13 games. Anyone who has been in football knows that will be the case.

“If we have a blip, we have to stick together and if we do that then we will be okay.”

Peaks was on hand to watch Rushall’s impressive win in midweek as they solidified their place in the top five.

“We had quite a close game with Rushall at our place (a 1-1 draw in October),” the Diamonds boss added.

“But they have done brilliantly since then and they are in a position that we are aspiring to be in.

“We will go there knowing it will be tough.

“They have been scoring a lot of goals, especially at home on a 4G pitch which they are much, much better on.

“It’s a big game but it’s just one of 13 big games left this season.

“It’s up to us to get as many points as we can from those 13 games to get us into what would be a place no-one would have imagined we could get into.”