DARLINGTON defender Matt Clarke last night paid tribute to the fans who will be vital to the club's survival in the coming months.

Administrators have warned the 120-year-old Quakers could fold if they fail to attract bumper crowds for Sunday's charity match at the Reynolds Arena and next week's Third Division visit of Rochdale.

The Supporters' Trust - which is also part of a consortium hoping to the buy the club - this week officially launched its campaign to raise £250,000 by March to help pay off the club's debts.

And Clarke last night echoed the thoughts of his teammates by thanking the club's fans for their support in such traumatic times.

"We appreciate the fans because they've been brilliant," said Clarke.

"We just hope they can get behind us as much as possible.

"There's still a long way to go and the fans are going to be a big help for us."

Former Halifax defender Clarke believes supporters have been influential in keeping morale high despite a desperate run of results which has seen Quakers win just once in their last 18 league games.

"Even when we've been losing the lads' confidence has always been good, even on a Monday morning back in training," said Clarke.

"We have to get the thought of those defeats out of our system as quickly as possible."

And after playing his part in Saturday's 1-1 draw at Kidderminster, Clarke admits the next game can't come soon enough after another battling display.

"It's a shame there's no game this weekend because we want the next game to come as soon as possible," said Clarke.

"We deserved to get something out of the Kidderminster game and we were all happy to get the draw in the end.

"We always believed we were capable of getting back into the game and we're all looking forward to the Rochdale game now."

Joey Hutchinson and Chris Hughes will return against Dale after serving one-match bans against Harriers.

Manager David Hodgson will give the pair a run out in Sunday's charity match.

Midfielder Clark Keltie is also expected to play a part after recovering from a knee injury.

However, Andy Collett remains sidelined with a shoulder injury and is not expected to return until March at the earliest.

The Quakers stopper will not undergo an operation on the injury until the end of the season.

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