JUSTIN EDINBURGH is keen to see his side capitalise on their 1-0 FA Trophy first round victory against Billericay Town.
The Rushden and Diamonds boss believes his side can now profit from their return to winning ways last weekend after stumbling to three league defeats and one FA Cup loss against Brighton in recent weeks.
Edinburgh, who steered his side to a 1-0 victory at Chester in October, courtesy of a Lee Tomlin goal, is now anxious to see his battling outfit consolidating eighth spot in the Blue Square League Premier Division table, starting tomorrow at home to the Blues.
Diamonds are just five points away from a play-off place after winning six of their 11 home matches to date.
And Edinburgh believes his side can continue their climb despite demonstrating difficulty in breaking down a resilient Billericay.
Edinburgh has only two players are ruled out of action tomorrow, chairman’s son Neil Cousins is sidelined for the next six to eight weeks after injuring the same knee he suffered a ruptured cruciate on earlier in the season at Brighton.
And goalkeeper, Nathan Abbey, who is struggling with a virus and a sore back, has been sidelined since he committed a goalkeeping error against Brighton in the FA Cup.
But defender, Simon Downer, is back in contention for a starting place.
Meanwhile, Diamonds striker Aaron O’Connor, is looking to push on after netting his eighth goal in 10 appearances to settle last Saturday’s FA Trophy first-round tie against Ryman League club Billericay Town at Nene Park.
O’Connor converted a 25-yard free-kick after 71 minutes to prevent a midweek replay and end a run of three successive defeats.
He said: “As a striker you often go through these spells and this is a good one.
“You hope it lasts longer than another run without scoring and I’m looking to carry on now.
"I’ve got a total of nine this season and I don’t care whether they are free-kicks or tap-ins. I just want to keep scoring by helping the team.
“We said before the game that we couldn’t expect it to be easy against a lower-league side. We knew if we kept the ball then they couldn’t score and we created a few chances.
“We could have won more comfortably but we had to stay patient and stop the rot.
“Obviously we’re looking for another home game in the next round – although our away form is just as good, if not better.
“We want to go as far as we can in this competition with the final being at Wembley.
“There’s no bigger stage and it’s a huge motivation because only a couple of us have been there in the past."
Despite his match-winner, O’Connor claims he will allow Lee Tomlin to take charge of set-pieces – even though Diamonds boss Justin Edinburgh does not agree.
O’Connor added: “We had three or four free-kicks which didn’t hit the target, so the skipper Jamie Stuart came up to me and said ‘next time just have a shot’.
“But I’m not taking any more and when another one comes up Tomlin will be back on them!”
However Edinburgh insisted: “O’Connor will be continuing to take them.
“There was a shout from the dug-out just before the free-kick – although it didn’t come from me!
“He has been in a good run of form so he had the confidence to step up and he executed it very well.”
Rushden are likely to keep faith with goalkeeper Dale Roberts, who has played for the England C team and replaced Nathan Abbey in recent weeks.
Michael Corcoran, Curtis Osano, club captain Jamie Stuart, and Kurt Robinson will combine in defence.
Mark Byrne, on loan from Nottingham Forest, will line-up on the right midfield alongside Paul Terry, the brother of Chelsea and England midfielder John, Max Porter, and Lee Tomlin, who has attracted interest from Peterborough United.
Tomlin, 20, became Diamonds’ youngest ever player four years ago.
Up front, Aaron O’Connor, who joined Diamonds from Mansfield during the summer, will partner Craig Farrell who moved from York in June.