Nunn wants to make sure ‘all the pieces’ are in place at Diamonds

The early stages of the summer have already been encouraging at Hayden Road as it was confirmed last week that Nunn will be staying on to lead Diamonds into the 2023/24 campaign.

They now know they will be in the Northern Premier League Midlands, which will see them going up against Corby Town and Harborough Town amongst others.

Matty Vernon. Jordan Williams and Mick Hunter are all staying on as part of Nunn’s backroom team while former Northampton Town defender Michael Harriman, who impressed for Diamonds after joining them at the back end of last season, is also staying on in a player-coach role.

Despite the club’s relegation from the Southern League Premier Central, Nunn led Diamonds on an impressive run of form towards the end of the campaign.

And he admitted he would love to be able to keep the majority of the squad that finished the season together while adding to it further.

But he insists those moves will not happen until later in the summer and he insists the very fact that Diamonds have navigated some choppy waters off the field to get themselves in a position to prepare for the next season is an achievement in itself.

“From our point of view, the club has done incredibly well to get through some difficult times and it’s my job to make us as competitive as we can be in what is going to be a strong league,” the Diamonds manager said.

“We aren’t in a position to be able to go and sign a load of experienced players.

“We are going to be very similar to what we were last season with young, local, hungry talent and it’s to me to get the best out of them.

“From where it was, the club is in a very good place and we will give everything we can and hopefully surprise a few teams.”

Nunn expressed his delight at being able to retain the services of experienced defender Harriman.

And he knows he will have to make sure he gets full “value” out of every signing he makes for the next campaign.

“There is certainly no rest,” he added.

“At this point, all the players hold all the power and we know that.

“I am not a manager either who will say this player or that player has committed.

“It was different with Michael Harriman because he is part of the management team and it was important we made it clear who was part of that.

“To get Michael on board made so much sense because he came in and had such a positive impact and his experience is invaluable.

“We are getting all the pieces right off the pitch because we go too heavy on the pitch.

“If I can keep what I had at the end of last season and maybe bring a few more then we will be looking good.

“We feel confident we can have a good season but we know we have to be shrewd with the signings we make and make sure we get value for every move we make.”