By Pete Oliver

Hart is determined to restore Rushden to League football

Rushden's five-year stay in the Football League ended with relegation in May and the appointment of Hart as the Diamonds' fifth full-time manager.

"The club was so disappointed to go down," Hart told BBC Sport.

"We would have loved to have had the chance to re-build in a higher division but that is out of our system now.

"There are not many players left. The younger ones that are tend to forget and move on and the new players are not thinking about that and have points to prove."

Hart worked with Rushden on a part-time basis at the end of last season as Barry Hunter battled to keep the club up.

However, Hunter's subsequent departure and Hart's appointment on a two-year contract heralded a new start.

And things have certainly changed since Rushden last played in the Conference, when the club was owned and financed by benefactor Max Griggs and guided to the 2001 title by Brian Talbot.

We are not shouting that we are going to do this or that and we realise that we are vulnerable with the size of the squad. But we have got a very positive attitude Paul Hart

Under Griggs' control the Northamptonshire club, formed from the merger of Rushden Town and Irthlingborough Diamonds in 1992, were the biggest spenders on and off the field.

Nowadays, the purse strings are a little tighter with the Diamonds operating under the ownership of a supporters' trust.

"Those days were heady days. They were backed by Max Griggs and they came up with the goods. But it's different now," said Hart.

"In the last five or six years I think 90 per cent of the times it's the teams with the biggest budgets that have gone up.

"We are not in that league. We run a very tight ship but we are determined to enjoy ourselves and we are trying to give our supporters something to smile about.

"We are not shouting that we are going to do this or that and we realise that we are vulnerable with the size of the squad. But we have got a very positive attitude.

"The club is a fantastic place and I am thoroughly enjoying it. I have a great staff working with me and the environment has been a total change. People want to help you."

Rushden will start the season with just 17 outfield players with the emphasis on quality rather than quantity.

They may not be the biggest payers, but defender and captain Chris Hope and big striker Leo-Fortune West have been lured out of the League to add weight to what looks a balanced squad.

I am not kidding myself that it won't be a very difficult campaign. Paul Hart

"I am delighted with the players we have retained and those we have brought in," added Hart, who also appointed former Nottingham Forest comrades Ian Bowyer and Ian Woan to his backroom staff.

"We have not got the biggest budget in the league by a long shot.

"But we've done what we can and I'm very happy with the players we've got at the club. We've got some good characters.

"We have got a small squad but we have no injuries, we are in good nick and we have a couple of systems to play to."

The Conference is new territory for Hart after previously managing at Forest, Barnsley and Chesterfield.

Rushden's own pre-season commitments have made it difficult to watch future opponents but Hart knows roughly what to expect as the Diamonds look to shine again.

He added: "What I have learned is that there are lots of good managers and coaches in this division who will be very well organised and I am not kidding myself that it won't be a very difficult campaign.

"The calibre of the Conference has to be not far away from the Football League.

"I watched the play-off final between Hereford and Halifax last season and if that is a measure of the Conference then it should be an exciting year."