Caretaker boss Mick Tait faces the toughest test of his caretaker manager reign when he takes his in-form side to second-placed Rushden today.

Quakers remain unbeaten under the leadership of Tait, with a win and two draws.

This afternoon they face a Rushden side who have conceded just four goals at home in the league all season and Tait accepts this will be a good measure of how far Quakers have progressed in recent weeks.

"It will be an excellent test," said Tait.

"They're a strong side who have had some good results and they have a great home record.

"We just have to go into the game in the way we have been, full of confidence and wanting to play football.

"If we do that and match their work-rate we have players who can undo them."

Having taken five points from his first three games in charge, Tait's chances of taking over the managerial reins on a permanent basis are looking favourable.

However, Tait feels he should have had three wins under his belt, having dominated the home games against Scunthorpe and Lincoln.

"We've totally outplayed three teams in a row now and although we haven't had the results we would have liked, if we keep playing that way we will get the rewards," said Tait.

"We have to take confidence from the way we've played.

"The three performances since I took over have been excellent.

"The players have worked hard in all the games and it's taken a lot out of them, but we've also been training very hard."

Tait has yet to decide on whether to keep the same side which drew with Lincoln a week ago.

Ashley Nicholls and Clark Keltie have been outstanding since Tait took over, although the caretaker boss may choose to rest one of the two with the likes of Neil Maddison and Mark Ford ready to step in.

"There are one or two things we could tinker with but we do have to make sure we play to our potential to get a good performance," said Tait. "You have to think about the opposition a little bit and give them all the respect they deserve with their position in the league."

Tait is still hoping to include Stuart Whitehead in the squad.

The former Carlisle defender has not played since suffering a rib injury picked up during the 4-0 win at Exeter a fortnight ago.

Tait had hoped to assess the fitness of Whitehead in the reserve game at Grimsby which was washed out on Wednesday.

Now Tait must decide on whether to include the 26-year-old without any recent match practice.

"It would have been nice to play him in the reserve game and get at least an hour under his belt," said Tait

"We're still keeping our fingers crossed he's going to be ok.

"It was a pretty severe blow he took and he's had muscle and tendon damage on his side and back.

"If he doesn't recover in time we'll carry on with what we've got.

"He can train but not to the level of the rest of the players so he's a little behind on his fitness."

On-loan striker Graham Fenton, who has not figured since limping off at Bury last month, is still out with a groin injury.

"I spoke to the physio about that and he doesn't think Graham will be right," said Tait.

Paul Campbell has made good progress from the groin injury which ruled him out of last week's draw with Lincoln, although Tait may give the youngster another week to recover.

Read more about the Quakers here.