Darlington star Craig Liddle is determined to prove to manager David Hodgson that Saturday's disappointing performance at Cambridge was a one-off.

Quakers slipped back into the bottom two following the 1-0 defeat at the Abbey Stadium.

Hodgson's men have not won on their League travels since beating Scunthorpe 1-0 in March and have lost eight in succession.

However, former Middlesbrough defender Liddle sees Saturday's visit of Macclesfield as a good opportunity to show Hodgson what they're really capable of

"We can't keep making excuses and we need to show the manager what we can do this weekend," said Liddle. "We didn't pass the ball around as well as we have done at Cambridge and the gaffer was quick to point that out to us in the changing room.

"It may be a lack of experience but we can't afford to let our standards drop.

"This is a young team and we need to learn to play well from one week to another.

"What we must do now is make sure we bounce back against Macclesfield."

A dubious penalty - the sixth spot-kick Quakers have conceded this season - was enough to hand Cambridge all three points after player-manager John Taylor clashed with Craig James in the box with half-time approaching.

Liddle believes had Quakers not fallen behind at such a critical time, they may have came away with at least a point.

"If we could have held out until half-time I'm sure the manager would have had something to say and we might have came away with something," said Liddle.

"To lose to a penalty was disappointing because other than that they didn't really create anything.

"It didn't look much but he turned his back on the lad and I think the opportunity was there for a penalty.

"It was harsh on Craig but I don't think we could have any complaints. We didn't play as well as we can do but I still think we deserved something."

Read more about the Quakers here.