Defender Matt Clarke is aiming to help bring some festive cheer to Darlington fans as the club looks to extend its unbeaten run to six games at home to Macclesfield tomorrow.

Mick Tait's side could climb into the top half of the table with a win against The Silkmen and Clarke is keeping his fingers crossed he and his teammates can impress in front of the Feethams faithful.

"The fans deserve a good run and hopefully we can keep this up with a good result on Saturday," said Clarke.

"It's good for the town, it's good for the club and hopefully we can give the fans even more to cheer about over Christmas.

"Obviously it's great to be involved with the club when things are going so well."

The summer signing from Halifax shares now the same kind of optimism as the rest of the team.

"We're now at the stage where everybody's buzzing and the confidence is really high in the camp," said Clarke. "We're all looking forward to every match and it's important we keep this run going.

"Anything can happen in this division and Saturday's game is going to be no easier than any other we have this season.

"If we can perform like we know we can do, we can compete with any team in this division."

Clarke feels his own game has improved under Tait, adding: "With no disrespect to Tommy (Taylor) I did find that my confidence was a bit low and Mick's really picked me up a lot."

Quakers' transformation under Tati has been nothing short of spectacular.

Three wins out of their opening 16 games spoke for itself but since Tait's caretaker appointment almost two months ago, Quakers have been on the receiving end of just one defeat - at title-chasing Rushden.

And after pulling away from the bottom end of the table, Clarke and co have set their sights on achieving more.

"Obviously we have high ambitions and we want to take the club forward and get up there," said Clarke. "It is our aim to finish as high as possible and at the moment we are heading in the right direction."

Goalkeeper Andy Collett could make a shock return to the squad tomorrow.

Collett will have an X-ray on his injured ribs and could be on the bench against Macclesfield as cover for Chris Porter.

Porter will start tomorrow's game and if Collett gets the all-clear he is likely to be back for the Boxing Day trip to Carlisle.

Read more about the Quakers here.