Puritans must sparkle to see of the Diamonds

The two clubs are locked on 49 points – four outside the final BetVictor Southern League play-off spot – but Diamonds have two games in hand.

The Puritans go into Saturday’s Premier Central clash at the Banbury Plant Hire Community Stadium with manager Mike Ford looking to make it three wins on the spin.

Ford said: “We’re in a good position now where we can keep producing good performances and look as though we can score regularly. If you score more goals than the opposition you will win games.

“That has helped us get closer to fifth spot, but now we’ve got to build on that on Saturday. It would be great to make it three wins on the bounce but Rushden are right next to us in the table so it’s a big game for both clubs.”

The goals are starting to flow and Ravi Shamsi moved on to eight since his return with a brace in the 4-2 victory against Needham Market.

Ford said: “I had a good chat a few weeks ago with Ravi [Shamsi] about his career, goal scorers have got to get goals. We had a spell of not scoring goals but with ravi, Greg Kaziboni and Luke Fairlamb we’ve now got a real threat.”