There's no crisis as Diamonds bid to halt losing run

Andy Peaks insists there is no crisis at AFC Rushden & Diamonds as they bid to end their losing run at lowly Northwich Victoria tomorrow (Saturday).
Joe Curtis was back in the AFC Rushden & Diamonds starting line-up on Tuesday after Richard Bunting suffered a calf injuryJoe Curtis was back in the AFC Rushden & Diamonds starting line-up on Tuesday after Richard Bunting suffered a calf injury
Joe Curtis was back in the AFC Rushden & Diamonds starting line-up on Tuesday after Richard Bunting suffered a calf injury

Tuesday night’s 2-0 home defeat to title-chasing Witton Albion was Diamonds’ third loss in a row in the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League Division One South.

It’s a run of form that has seen them drop out of the play-off places with Leek Town now sitting in fifth place, two points clear of Peaks’ team.

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Diamonds and Leek have to play each other twice in the final few weeks of the season as the race for the top-five places heats up.

But, for the time being, Peaks just wants his team to come out of their recent “blip”.

The setback against Witton came on the back of defeats to Spalding United and fellow play-off contenders Basford United.

However, the Diamonds boss is adamant his team can hit back, starting at Northwich this weekend.

“It’s a totally different game,” Peaks said.

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“Northwich are fighting for their lives, they won’t have the quality that Witton had on Tuesday night but they will be scrapping.

“We have to make sure we don’t give them any encouragement. I watched them last Saturday and they are fighting hard.

“We have had three blips now and that happens but it’s a question of how quickly we can come out of it.

“It’s not a crisis, it’s a blip. We have lost to three decent teams.

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“We have put good shifts in in the two home games with Spalding and Witton but the Basford one was the disappointing one because we didn’t get out of second gear.

“They have gone now and we have to draw a line under all three.

“We have 11 massive games, it’s a quarter of the season still to play so we can certainly get enough points within those games.

“We have got to play Leek twice and I think they have got to play Witton twice so there are going to be plenty of points won and lost between now and the end of the season.

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“It’s up to us to get those points and not worry about anyone else.

“We will regroup and be ready to go and try to get three points on Saturday.”

Diamonds will be without captain Richard Bunting on Saturday after he suffered a calf injury in the warm-up on Tuesday, with Joe Curtis taking his place.

Peaks added: “It wasn’t good for Bunts because he felt it tweak and he could barely walk so we are going to be looking at a couple of weeks for him at least.

“But it opened the door for Joe Curtis to get back involved and we have other options. I still think we have the squad to get us to where we want to be.”