One eye already on next season but Nunn knows Diamonds must stay focused

But the Diamonds boss knows he and his team “have a responsibility” to their supporters to give it everything in their final eight games of the season.

Diamonds picked up their first point since January 2 as they claimed a 1-1 draw at Bromsgrove Sporting on Tuesday night.

However, their ultimate fate will soon be sealed and Diamonds will be relegated if they fail to beat title-chasing Leiston at Hayden Road on Saturday.

Nunn firmly believes the current crop are now heading in the right direction and he insists the players will do all they can to finish a tough campaign on a high note.

“I feel we are going in the right direction and bridging the gap,” Nunn said.

“Unfortunately, that gap can’t be bridged enough.

“We just want to try to get points on the board.

“We feel we are eradicating the basic errors we have been making. We’re trying to make ourselves harder to score against and we are conceding fewer goals and conceding fewer chances.

“I keep stressing the importance to the boys about the remainder of the season.

“With every game, we are looking at next year.

“But we have got eight matches left and we will have supporters there on Saturday who will be paying to watch us play.

“It’s our responsibility to make sure we perform.”

Diamonds, meanwhile, completed one more signing ahead of yesterday’s (Thursday) registration deadline with 18-year-old forward Pharrell Anderson signing on a dual-registration basis from Cogenhoe United.

Anderson, like fellow recent signing Will Glennon, is a product of the AFC Rushden & Diamonds academy system and has since moved on to the Diamonds scholarship programme at Moulton College and has combined this with playing for Cogenhoe, scoring an impressive 12 goals in 34 appearances in his first season in men’s football.

Nunn said: “A few people whose opinion I respect, including Matty Vernon, have told me I need to have a good look at Pharrell and I’m pleased to be able to do that over the next couple of months.

"To have featured week-in, week-out at Step 5 at 18 years of age shows he’s got a good future ahead of him and he’s got a platform now to show us what he can do as attention starts to turn to next season.

"I’d like to say a big thanks to Biff (Scott Carlin) at Cogenhoe for his help in getting this over the line and allowing one of his first-team regulars to test himself at a higher level at this stage of the season.”