We must battle for every single point, says Diamonds boss Nunn

Diamonds began the new year with a morale-boosting 2-1 home success over St Ives Town at Hayden Road but were unable to follow it up as they were beaten 3-1 at Ilkeston Town last weekend.

The defeat has left them at the foot of the table and 11 points adrift of safety with 17 games to go.

But the games don’t get any easier as Diamonds take on Liam McDonald’s Rushall Olympic at Hayden Road on Saturday.

Rushall currently sit in the play-off places and are just four points behind leaders Tamworth.

And Nunn knows the hard work ethic his team have been showing is the “minimum” they need to produce if they are to find a way out of trouble.

“I’ve known Liam for years and he gets his teams set up really well,” Nunn said.

“Rushall are always there or thereabouts around the play-offs and I think they are one of the dark horses to win it this year. They are right in the mix.

“We worked really hard last weekend.

“I can’t say we deserved anything in terms of quality because Ilkeston were a lot better than us. It was a bit of an education for some of the young boys.

“I came away from Ilkeston more positive than negative. They stuck to the game plan and they worked hard. They stuck at it and stayed in the game.

“The hunger and work-rate they showed was brilliant and we are going to need that in abundance when we play Rushall.

“Liam does have a habit of mixing up so he gets them playing but they will also be a strong, physical team.

“It’s going to be tough but we are at home and we have got to try to pick up as much as we can on our own ground.

“When we beat St Ives I said the work-rate and desire was brilliant and that has to be the minimum in every game.

“If we are going to get out of the trouble we’re in, which is a deep hole, we have to be battling for every single point we can muster up.”

Diamonds added two more new faces to their squad yesterday (Thursday) after they signed central defender Charlie Waller and attacking midfielder Joel Anker on one-month loan deals from Milton Keynes Dons.

And there is mixed news on the injury front for Nunn.

Recent signing Luke Massingham and Ryan Hughes played at the heart of the defence in the 2-1 win over St Ives but both missed last weekend’s defeat due to injury.

Massingham is set to return on Saturday but Nunn confirmed Hughes will be out for at least two more weeks as he nurses a hamstring problem.

“Luke will definitely be okay for Saturday,” the Diamonds boss added.

“I spoke to him early this week and he was back in the gym so he is fine.

“It will be good to have Luke back. He is a bit of a leader. He’s only 21 but he talks well so that’s good for us.

“Hughesy is probably still a couple of weeks away so that’s a bit of a blow because I thought him and Luke looked really good as a pair against St Ives.

“It’s a hamstring and it’s not a visual injury. If you bring people back too early it could turn into four or five weeks. We will make sure he is ready.”

On the new additions to the squad, Nunn added: “Both players have a great future ahead of them in the game.

“MK Dons have been incredibly helpful and have advised that they’re looking to establish a relationship with us moving forward which can only be a good thing for the football club.

“They’ve got really high hopes for these two lads and we thank them for trusting us to help with their progression.”