Albion must be tired, surely?

Witton have played more than half of their league games, 22 to be precise, since February 1.

By the start of 2017, they’d managed only 15.

However players tend to feel less fatigued when they’re winning, and Albion put a huge 54 points on the board in the final three months of the campaign.

Only one player, leading scorer Brad Bauress, has made more than 50 starts in all competitions.

Just two more, Tom Owens and Anthony Gardner, have played from the first whistle in 35 Division One South games.

Carl Macauley has carefully managed how he has shared minutes between his regulars, particularly in the past fortnight, to keep them as fresh as possible.

Witton’s front four are formidable, and in form

It’s a point Albion’s manager stressed following the final whistle on Saturday.

Steven Tames’ winning goal against Sheffield was his 18th during a loan spell from Stalybridge, and five of those have come in the past fortnight.

Will Jones has netted nine times since making his debut in a 3-2 defeat of Shaw Lane at the end of February while Brad Bauress, with 26 in total, and Rob Hopley – who has only one less – have been regular scorers all season.

“We’re always dangerous,” said Macauley.

“We have guys all over the field who can score a goal for us, and it was Steve Tames’ turn at the weekend.

“Rushden will be wary of those four.”

Both teams have been here before

Albion have contested promotion play-offs on four previous occasions, making it to the final twice.

On the first two occasions, in 2007 and again the following year, they did so after suffering the disappointment of not finishing first despite mounting a challenge for the title.

They ranked a comfortable third in Division One North five years ago before brushing aside Farsley and Curzon Ashton to secure a return to the Northern Premier League’s top-flight.

A fourth-place finish the following season kept them on course for successive promotions until they lost 3-1 at FC United of Manchester in the semi final.

Rushden finished fifth in the Southern League’s Division One Central last term, going down 2-1 against St Ives Town in the final after extra time.

Diamonds sneaked into the top five, so that makes them favourites right?

It’s a popular refrain to remark that a side that classifies second rarely goes on to win promotion via the play-offs.

In the Northern Premier League’s Division One South, that’s largely true; only Chasetown, in 2010, have won the added games after finishing as runners-up.

However Rushden have no numbers to make them feel better either; no side that has ranked fifth has made it.

It’s Spalding, who host Stocksbridge Park Steels in the other semi-final on Tuesday, who should perhaps be optimistic; in five of eight previous seasons since the section was formed, it is the third-placed side that have prevailed in the play-offs.

Of course, records – no matter how obscure they may be – are there to be broken.

Witton v Rushden: Everything you need to know

Can Witton keep out Rushden’s star man, Nabil Shariff?

They did so at Wincham Park last month, while Diamonds’ leading scorer made only a brief cameo as a substitute during the teams’ first meeting.

He reached the end of the regular season with 19 league goals, but has plundered more than half of those in the past two months.

It’s a fact not lost on Carl Macauley.

“We need to keep a close eye on him,” he said.

“He really impressed us when they came up here, and it’s our defenders’ job to keep him quiet if we can.”

Only champions Shaw Lane conceded fewer goals, although Albion have kept just as many clean sheets – 17 in 42 games.

Nine of those were in front of their own supporters.