DARLINGTON midfielder Ashley Nicholls believes Craig Liddle was unlucky to see red on Saturday - and is backing the skipper to successfully appeal against his dismissal.

Liddle was given his marching orders just two minutes into the second half of Saturday's win after colliding with Hull striker Phil Jevons.

And Nicholls thinks some of referee Mark Warren's decisions had been influenced by the crowd. "I think the ref was swayed by the home crowd on a few occasions and the sending off to me looked quite harsh," said Nicholls.

"Craig said afterwards that he'd appeal against it and rightly so."

Quakers extended their unbeaten run to five games on Saturday and Nicholls revealed that there is a belief throughout the team that they are capable of beating anyone in the division.

"We knew that they'd be up for it and it would be a hard game but we're confident enough to go into these kind of games looking to win," said Nicholls.

"We were always going to be up against it from the start with it being their last game here and 15,000 fans behind them.

"I think they were quite nervous about the whole occasion, especially in front of so many supporters. We didn't play particularly well, but we gave 100 per cent and got another three points to move us further up the table."

Nicholls is already looking forward to Saturday's visit of Macclesfield and is confident Quakers can increase their unbeaten record to six games.

"When you're on such a good run you look forward to every game and we'll be going into the Macclesfield game looking for another three points," said Nicholls.

Caretaker boss Mick Tait, who has suffered just one defeat in his nine games in charge, has received the backing of his players.

All he needs now is the green light from chairman George Reynolds.

"We'd all love to see Mick get the job," said Nicholls. "Everyone wants him to get it, but at the end of the day it's up to the chairman."

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