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Justin Edinburgh

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Diamonds confident of play-off spot

Rushden and Diamonds have some key fixtures coming up this month and coach Justin Edinburgh believes his team need to stay full of confidence if they are to keep their play-off dream alive.

Diamonds host Eastbourne Borough at Nene Park on Tuesday night before vital clashes with promotion rivals Stevenage Borough, Oxford United and Mansfield Town, as well as a crucial derby date with Kettering Town on February 27.

Following the 3-0 win over Grays Athletic on Saturday, Diamonds leapfrogged the Poppies into sixth place in the league, behind AFC Wimbledon only on goal difference and with a game in hand over the London club.

Edinburgh told the Evening Telegraph, "Of course, confidence is high and we will take that into tomorrow's game. Then if we get something out of that we've got four tough games coming up."

"At the moment we feel we can win every match," he added. "Other results have gone for us and we're closing the gap all the time."

The Diamond's coach felt that despite the high confidence levels there was no complacency in the performance against Grays. "The players showed their professionalism and character."

"It was a good performance and we could have scored more goals.I thought we passed the ball well on a difficult surface."

"It was just a case of getting the second goal to take the pressure off because at 1-0 it's tight where any slip or mistake might have let Grays back into it."

Diamonds will have to cope without club top-scorer Lee Tomlin for the next two games due to suspension after his 10th booking of the season on Saturday.

Edinburgh added: "He plays on the edge and he has got that little bit of fire in him which makes him such a good player. It's disappointing to lose him."