Blues look to polish off Diamonds

Blues will look for their first win of the campaign when wrap up pre-season on Saturday by hosting AFC Rushden & Diamonds are the visitors to the ProKit UK Stadium, kick-off 3pm.

The Northamptonshire club were formed in the summer of 2011 when Rushden & Diamonds were expelled from the Conference and subsequently went bust. The move had repercussions for Blues as the subsequent reprieves for Southport and Thurrock led to us spending two years in Conference North.

Their first season saw promotion from United Counties League Division One, finishing second after just two league defeats in 36 games. The following season saw them finish third in UCL Premier Division before winning the title in 2015 with 99 points and 121 goals in 40 matches.

After finishing fifth in Southern League Central Division and missing in the play-offs, they were transferred to the Northern Premier League Division One South. Another fifth place and play-off disappointment followed before this season saw them return to the Southern League and they finished second to gain promotion to the new Southern League Premier Central Division. Attendances at Hayden Road rose nearly 8 percent to 502.

Diamonds have had a mixed pre-season campaign, winning their first three games before suffering a pair of defeats. Newport Pagnell were beaten 3-0 before visitors Melton Town were defeated 3-1. Landlords Rushden & Higham United were beaten 4-1 before they went down to single goal defeats against Brackley Town and Enfield Town. Tuesday saw them beat Kempston Rovers 2-0.

Admission for this game is  £6 for adults and £4 for concessions. Accompanied under-12s are free.