After Darlington's short-lived unbeaten start to the season came to a disappointing end, manager David Hodgson emerged from the dressing room with all guns blazing.

And it was his players who were coming under fire from a man who feels defeat more than most.

Hodgson detests losing and having seen his side fail to overcome an average team, he left Aggborough with his pride dented and in despondent mood; threatening to make changes to his starting XI.

Performance aside, he knows 1-0 defeats at Kidderminster, who had a man sent off in the second half and hadn't scored a goal this season prior to Saturday, don't win over sceptical supporters and the stay-away fans.

Expectations aren't high, but after last season's disaster fans are looking for something to cheer, wishing, rather than expecting, to see a team in the top half of the table.

A point at Kidderminster, which Darlington deserved, would have put Quakers sixth and, despite still being early in the season, given long-suffering supporters reason to be positive.

On Saturday's showing the hosts look unlikely to spend much time in the top half this season, which makes it ever more frustrating for Hodgson.

He saw his side begin with a bright spell in which they were far superior - but they never quite matched their sparkling first 20 minutes.

Since the start of the season Hodgson has switched from 3-5-2 to 4-4-2, and he blasted: "We might have to start making some harsh decisions on people who we feel aren't doing enough to stay in the side.

"I don't think it's the formation at fault, it's some of the players in those roles that aren't doing the job.

"The overall thing we've got to work on is understanding, the players aren't communicating with each other. They do it off the pitch, why can't they do it during a game?

"I thought in the first half the game was there for the taking. We looked comfortable but we didn't look as if we wanted to go on and smash them and win convincingly, they didn't have the desire.

"In the first-half Kidderminster offered very little and we had a lot more in the tank. In the second half, when they went down to ten men, they sat back and put men behind the ball and we hit a few long balls.

"Against ten men you've got to get the ball wide, get behind them and get balls in the box.''

In truth Saturday's performance wasn't as bad as some of Hodgson's comments suggest, but having watched lacklustre Harriers snatch three points after an evenly-contested 90 minutes, for 28 of which the hosts had only ten men, his annoyance was understandable.

That Kidderminster didn't force a corner until the hour mark and that their first shot on target was a penalty - the other two carried no real threat to a keeper in the form Sam Russell is enjoying - says plenty about Darlington's performance.

It started well for the visitors who kept the same side which drew a 1-1 at Yeovil in midweek. With Neil Wainwright looking sharp, his pace and trickery was Darlington's main source of attack with the former Sunderland youngster along with Joe Kendrick, Stephen Thomas and Matt Clarke all shooting on sight early on.

The hosts didn't even mount an attack until the 20-minute mark with quick right-winger Simon Brown showing some ability, but both sides reached stalemate until half-time.

Five minutes into the second-half Brown attracted a Craig Liddle foul in the penalty area and from the spot Ian Foster scored.

Ten minutes later two acts of stupidity from Brown - booked twice within seconds for time-wasting - meant he was shown a red card which should've also meant a green light to Darlington's intentions to grab a leveller.

Liddle saw a glancing header go wide and Russell blasted wide from a good position in the box but the hosts sat deep, defended in numbers and made it difficult.

There was still time for Russell to see a powerfully hit shot saved by John Danby and Hodgson's men saw strong appeals for a penalty turned down as Mark Convery appeared to be pushed in the area while Clarke was unfortunate to see his close-range header stopped magnificently by Kidderminster's No 1.

The scoreline doesn't make good reading, and even though Russell and Clarke both came close to scoring, any Darlington supporter not present at Aggborough will again be questioning the lack of firepower.

But a shock new Football League ruling - in place since Saturday - states clubs in administration are not allowed to register more than 18 players.

On Friday, when the ruling was 20, Hodgson farmed out David McGurk on loan to Bishop Auckland in order create room for a striker - now he's faced with a another headache.

Result: Kidderminster Harriers 1 Darlington 0.

Read more about the Quakers here.