'I TOLD you so' - that was Darlington manager David Hodgson's stark message to the stay-away fans who have brought chairman Stewart Davies to the brink of selling the club.

As crowds continue to dwindle at the Williamson Motors Stadium, Hodgson has expressed his growing concern that Davies may be forced to move on to protect his own financial interests.

The Sterling Consortium is known to be unhappy with ticket sales and Hodgson has repeatedly stressed that the club needs to be bringing in crowds in excess of 5,000 to break even.

And with gates struggling to exceed 4,000 this season - it's only happened on six occasions - Davies has been forced to part-fund general running costs.

"I know what Stewart has put in and it's a phenomenal amount of money," revealed Hodgson. "We are going to lose him if crowds continue to struggle and I don't want that.

"I've said from day one what we need to break even and it just hasn't been happening for some reason."

Davies sparked claims he was about to sell up earlier this week after holding a meeting with former Leeds United chairman Peter Ridsdale at the WMS.

And while Quakers officials have moved to quell suggestions of a takeover, Hodgson insists Davies will only tolerate so much.

"When the chairman took over the club at the beginning of the season he came as a businessman and nothing else," said Hodgson.

"At the moment the business is running at a loss and good businessmen do not take companies on that are running at a loss.

"As a business, with crowds of less than 4,000, the chairman knows it's running at a loss. I can't explain to him why we're not getting over 5,000 at games when we're doing so well.

"The chairman is beginning to take the view that the business is not a good one for him, although he is prepared to stay here until the day is right for somebody else to take over."

Only time will tell whether Davies' meeting with Ridsdale was as innocent as a spot of lunch between two old Yorkshire pals.

However, Hodgson remains typically open-minded about any potential takeover, including that of Ridsdale's reported interest.

"If Stewart does decide to hand control over to somebody else then they must have the club's best interests at heart," said Hodgson.

"Peter Ridsdale quite openly came along to the stadium earlier this week after an invite from the chairman. It's been rumoured that Peter is looking to get back into football and where would anybody interested in doing that find facilities as good as what we have here at Darlington? You would not find one at the price the chairman is willing to accept.

"Peter has tasted the big time with Leeds and he is vastly experienced on the PR side of things. On that front this club would benefit from that type of individual.

"If Peter bought the club then it wouldn't be a case of would I be happy with him, it would be a case of would he be happy with me?"

Any chairman would appreciate the efforts of Hodgson during the last 12 months. In that time the Quakers' boss has steered the club clear of relegation and assembled a side which is now considered to be a serious promotion candidate.

This afternoon, seventh-placed Quakers entertain struggling Notts County. Hodgson's men earned a point at Meadow Lane earlier in the season, shortly before County parted company with manager Gary Mills after a poor start to the season.

County lie 20th in League Two and Hodgson said: "They were fired up hugely at their place because their manager was under pressure to get results.

"They're struggling at the wrong end of the table because they can't string any kind of run together.

"We have enough quality at this club to go out and beat Notts County."

Quakers have lost just once in 2005 and lie sixth in the League Two form table. After a sluggish start to the campaign Hodgson's men have gained the same amount of points as top-of-the-table Yeovil since the tenth game of the season.

He said: "We started the first ten games of the season without any strikers, yet we have still matched a side like Yeovil point-for-point.

"When you read it like that it bodes quite well for the rest of the season. What bothers me is that Yeovil are playing good football every week and they aren't losing many.

"We have the experience to dominate games, but the penny doesn't always drop in games.

"Those teams above us are going to have a blip and we have to make sure we're hot on their heels to take their places."

Midfielder Adrian Webster has recovered from a hamstring injury, although Hodgson has yet to decide on whether to hand the Australian a recall. Stephen Thomas has suffered another setback after going down with another virus.

The Hartlepool-born player has endured a torrid season since joining from Wrexham during the summer. Thomas has already spent a lengthy spell on the sidelines with a hernia problem this season.

Hodgson missed last week's win at Bury with flu and he could name an unchanged starting XI. Craig Hignett and Neil Maddison look set to remain on bench duty. Bobby Petta will make his home debut after scoring last week.