Peaks seeking 'massive reaction' from Diamonds

Andy Peaks will be looking for a “massive reaction” from his AFC Rushden & Diamonds players when they take on Barwell at Hayden Road this weekend.

Diamonds seemed to have made a solid start to the new season last weekend as they claimed a 1-1 draw at Nuneaton Borough, despite playing for 40 minutes after Ross Oulton was sent-off, on the opening day of the Southern League Premier Central campaign.

But Peaks and his players were left stunned on Tuesday night as they were thrashed 5-0 by lower-ranked Newark in the first qualifying round of the Emirates FA Cup at Hayden Road.

The manager admitted he was “embarrassed” by what he witnessed in midweek.

But he is now keen to see his players bounce back when they return to league action on Saturday.

“I said to our boys that I would always put my name to the sort of performance we produced at Nuneaton but Tuesday wasn’t acceptable,” Peaks said.

“It’s early days in the season and I look around the dressing-room and people are saying we have a good squad but it just goes to show that when you don’t do things the right way in terms of preparation, attitude or decision you make on the pitch, that’s what can happen.

“It’s massively disappointing because in the FA Cup you only get one shot at it. If you have one bad night, you’re out and that’s what we had on Tuesday, a very, very bad night.

“League games are different, you can have a bad one here and there and there’s always a bit of time to put it right.

“Six weeks down the line, people will remember the league games when you look at positions in the table.

“We have to focus on that now. I always expect my teams to bounce back and I don’t see any reason why we can’t do that at the weekend.

“We will have to play a lot better than we did on Tuesday because Barwell are another decent outfit.

“We have to bounce back, that is the nature of football. I will be looking for a massive reaction.”

Peaks also admitted his players could do with adding a bit of “nastiness” to their game.

He added: “We had a good chat in the dressing-room after the game and a lot of them are nice lads, probably too nice.

“Nice lads don’t always win things, we need a bit of nastiness as well at the right time.

“We also need leaders out there and we lacked that a little bit on Tuesday.”