IT was clear from the sense of anti-climax which followed last Saturday's historic first match at the Reynolds Arena that Darlington have much work to do both off and on the pitch to give their fans a lift.

Chairman George Reynolds has promised to address "teething troubles" at the new stadium, which included problems with ticket arrangements, catering and traffic, while manager Mick Tait needs to inspire a team which slumped to a disappointing 2-0 defeat against Kidderminster Harriers.

The result left Quakers bottom of the Division Three table and, although it's still very early days, they need to get points on the board sooner rather than later.

They visit Northampton Town tonight hoping to bounce back as they did when reacting to their crushing opening day defeat at Hull City with a surprise Carling Cup win at Bradford City.

Quakers failed miserably to reproduce that form in front of a bumper 11,600 crowd at the Reynolds Arena, goals from Danny Williams and Andy Bishop early in the second half giving the visitors all three points.

Tait's wafer-thin squad was stretched still further by injuries to defenders Joey Hutchinson, Matt Clarke and Gary Pearson, with Ian Clark filling in at left back.

Striker Danny Mellanby was also out, but returned to training this week, while the manager will be hoping that Craig Liddle, Barry Conlon and Glen Robson can shake off knocks in time for the trip to the Sixfields Stadium.

The Cobblers, relegated last season, are also looking for their first point of the new campaign following last Saturday's 1-0 defeat at York City.

A good result is vital if Darlington are to have any chance of attracting another big crowd to their new home for the visit of Leyton Orient on Monday.