Long Eaton United travel to fellow NPL Midlands Division One opponents AFC Rushden & Diamonds in the Preliminary Round of the 2026/27 FA Cup on Saturday, looking to halt a run of 3 defeats in a row.

Tuesday nights late defeat to Coventry United, where we enjoyed large spells of dominance was on the back of missed chances at Boldmere St Michaels last Saturday in the FA Trophy.

Brad Munn and his team will be hoping to find the winning formula very soon, and this Saturday represents another break from the league as we bid to reach the Qualifying stages of the FA Cup for a 7th consecutive time - Currently our best sequence for over 45 years.

However, standing in front of us are a team yet to taste defeat this season, in AFC Rushden & Diamonds.

The Diamonds, who are of course in our NPL Midlands Division 1 league, brushed aside Kimberley Miners Welfare 5-0 in the Extra Preliminary Round of the competition, before picking up league draws at Barwell (1-1) and at home to Coleshill last Saturday (0-0). A late winner on Tuesday night at home to Nuneaton Town saw them register their first victory of the league campaign, winning 3-2.

Formed in 2012, their best FA Cup campaign came in 2015/16 when they reached the final Qualifying, losing in a replay to Barwell, whilst they haven't reached the Qualifying Rounds since 2022/23, losing in the Extra Preliminary and Preliminary Rounds since.

The Blues form has stuttered so far this season. A victory at Leicester Nirvana in the FA Cup, was followed by a dismal first half at Shepshed, which saw us fall behind 3-0 at the break, only to come out fighting and almost snatch a draw in the second half. After that was our FA Trophy defeat at Boldmere, where we missed a host of chances, then to Coventry United at Grange Park, where we played one of our best halves of football for sometime, before eventually going down to a late goal.

On the injury front, Jamie Hanson is expected to be out for around another 1-2 weeks, whilst George Atwal, currently filling in at right-back, played his best match of the season against Coventry on Tuesday.

Previous meetings
This season is the 3rd season in which we have both competed in the same division. In our 4 matches so far, both teams have won twice each, though Long Eaton will have to break the sequence of home wins if we are to progress in the Cup.

24/01/2026 BLUES 3 Diamonds 1 [Hartmann, Davidson-Miller, Thompson-Matthews]
27/09/2025 Diamonds 2 BLUES 1 [Thompson-Matthews]
26/04/2025 Diamonds 1 BLUES 0
17/09/2024 BLUES 2 Diamonds 1 [Hanson, Garnett]

Match details

AFC RUSHDEN & DIAMONDS vs LONG EATON UNITED

Saturday 22nd August 2026
FA Cup Preliminary Round
Kick-off 3pm

The Stadium, Hayden Rd, Rushden NN10 0HX

Admission:
Prices to be confirmed

Travel: Journey length of around 80 miles from Long Eaton, with a journey time of approximately 1 and a half hours.