We have to pick ourselves up, says Diamonds boss Burgess

The joy of last weekend's 2-1 win at Barwell turned to despair as AFC Rushden & Diamonds were beaten 7-0 by Coalville Town in midweek. Now they need to bounce back in a bottom-of-the-table clash at Hednesford Town tomorrow. Picture by Hawkins Images

Andy Burgess insists there’s no choice but for AFC Rushden & Diamonds to “pick ourselves up” after their midweek humiliation.

Diamonds were thrashed 7-0 by high-flying Coalville Town at Hayden Road on Tuesday night.

It came just three days after Burgess’ team had claimed their first win of the season in the Southern League Premier Central as goals from Miguel Ngwa and Nathan Hicks secured a 2-1 success at Barwell.

But they were brought crashing back down to earth in midweek with Burgess admitting it was “men against boys” at times.

Diamonds remain in the bottom two of the table and they now have to prepare for an important clash at bottom side Hednesford Town this weekend.

“We will pick ourselves up,” Diamonds manager Burgess said.

“It will hurt for a couple of days but we will get back into training and we will work as hard as we possibly can to be ready for Saturday.

“The thing about football is that you get another opportunity. We went to Barwell and put in a proper performance.

“We’ve got to go to Hednesford and do it again.

“We are going to need 16 players who are going there committed and who are prepared to do the hard yards like they did at Barwell.”