Injuries causing concern for Diamonds boss Peaks

Having suffered a 1-0 home loss to Leyton Orient last week and a 3-1 defeat at Oxford City on Saturday, Diamonds bounced back with a 3-1 success at Bugbrooke St Michaels in their latest pre-season friendly outing on Tuesday night.

But, having seen Nathan Hicks (elbow) and Tom Lorraine (ankle) already suffering injuries, Peaks was hit by another setback with Ben Acquaye having to be withdrawn in midweek.

Diamonds return to action in the Dale Roberts Memorial Cup match with Histon at Hayden Road tomorrow (Saturday) before they take on Northampton Town in the NFA Maunsell Cup final next Tuesday.

And the Diamonds boss said: ““We have picked up a few injuries, which is a bit of a concern.

“We are hoping they won’t be out for too long but it’s obviously frustrating.

“It’s part of the game and we have always dealt with it in the past and we will deal with it again.

“Overall, pre-season has been a learning curve as it always is. We have had some players in and now I have to start narrowing it down a little bit.

“We weren’t at our best the other night, we needed to be a bit more clinical in front of goal and that’s an issue we know we need to address.

“But we will carry things on and we will keep learning and we are looking forward to a home game again this weekend.”

Peaks, meanwhile, insists Diamonds won’t rush into appointing a successor for assistant-manager Paul Lamb after it was revealed he will be stepping down due to increased work commitments.

“Lamby has played a massive part in what we have done in the last five years, he’s a good mate and I trust him,” Peaks added.

“We will be looking to replace him either from within or the outside. There are a few irons in the fire but we won’t be rushing into it.

“There are still things that he will be able to help us with but him not being there will leave a big void and we will have to make sure whoever comes into that role is the right person for the job."