David Hodgson blamed the linesman for Craig Hignett not coming on as a substitute on Saturday.

Hignett has been suffering from a virus in recent weeks, only playing an hour of the win over Macclesfield last week, so Saturday was dropped to the bench and Hodgson hoped the ex-Middlesbrough forward would prove influential as a late sub.

He emerged from the dug-out in the final minutes and, having taken off his tracksuit, appeared ready to come on as Quakers searched for a winning goal, but he soon sat back down which left the supporters puzzled.

Hodgson explained a mix-up on the sidelines denied Hignett the opportunity of a cameo appearance.

The boss said: "I'm not happy with the linesman. I asked him how long was left and he said seven minutes so we were going to throw Higgy on.

"Even though he's still affected by a virus, we were going to have a gamble for the closing minutes.

"But next thing I know the linesman says there's only ten seconds left so at that point it was too late.

"I don't know which watch he'd been using - obviously it wasn't meant to be for us."

Including the former Boro man, Darlington were without three of their regular free-kick takers and Hignett's absence was most evident during the second half when Oxford conceded several free-kicks just outside their penalty area, a position he would have been a threat from.

Neil Maddison was out of the team injured, while Clyde Wijnhard is normally a threat in dead-ball situations but he was replaced in the 55th minute with a groin injury.

Hodgson said: "We missed Clyde when he went off, especially at free-kicks.

"We had four or five in areas he would have been involved in.

"Clyde can strike the ball tremendously but he was off injured."

With Armstrong having just recovered from a groin injury, and with Craig Russell as the club's only reserve striker, Hodgson has already said he'd like to bring another forward to the club.

The reliance on Wijnhard, Hignett and Armstrong is highlighted by the fact that Adolofo Gregorio's strike on Saturday was only the fourth in the last 25 goals scored by a Darlington player other than the aforementioned trio.

THERE were contrasting fortunes for several former Darlington players in the third round of the FA Cup, with Alex Jeannin enjoying a remarkable afternoon, playing in Exeter City's 0-0 draw at Manchester United.

After being released by Quakers in 2001 Jeannin, who played 24 games at centre-back for Darlington, is now with the Nationwide Conference club and played the full 90 minutes at left-back on Saturday.

Scunthorpe United defender Andy Crosby, captain of the Darlington side which reached the Wembley play-off final of 1996, scored an own goal and deflected another as his team lost 3-1 at Chelsea, while Mike Pollitt, goalkeeper for Quakers in the mid-90s, was a victim of a giant-killing of sorts as Rotherham side lost 3-0 at home to Yeovil.

Two other members of that play-off final side enjoyed Cup success on Saturday, striker Robbie Blake made his Birmingham debut after leaving Burnley and got off to a winning start by beating Leeds 3-0, while Matty Appleby was an unused sub in Oldham's 1-0 win over Manchester City.

Read more about the Quakers here.