LOWLY Boston head to Feethams today in a match that Quakers' assistant manager Mick Tait sees as anything but a six-pointer.

Despite Darlington being sixth bottom and struggling to find any consistency this term, Tait believes it is far too early to talk of relegation battles.

The trip to Bury last weekend was three minutes away from being a comfortable win before defensive frailties reared their head to allow the Shakers back in.

Now Boston, docked four points for financial irregularities at the start of the season and standing just one point above rock-bottom Swansea in the league, come looking for a win that would see them move to within touching distance of Quakers.

"We can't call games at this stage six-pointers," said Tait.

"There's a long long way to go, and it's just too early for that.

"People may say that some teams are in false positions but I believe your position in the league doesn't lie. We should have won last weekend but being two in front counts for nothing when you don't win games."

One player who did his reputation no harm at Bury was new signing Stuart Whitehead, whose exit with a hamstring injury sparked Bury's fightback.

The news on the central-defender is more positive, and Tait says they'll give him as long as possible to prove he's fit to start.

"He's trained today but we'll have to see how he reacts to that," said Tait.

"It's only been a week since the injury and it normally takes longer to recover. We'll give him as long as possible."

The assistant boss is a long-time admirer of the former Carlisle centre-back and is delighted at the impact he has had since his move from Brunton Park.

"I've wanted to bring Stuart to Darlington before - I just like the way he defends.

"He reads the game well and he's got enough pace to get out of any problems he's in - if he had stayed on last weekend we would have won the game."

One definite absentee is loan-signing Graham Fenton, who continues to struggle with a groin injury.

The Quakers were delighted to tie down the former Blackburn Rovers forward for a further month at least, and believe he'll get the chance to show the Feethams faithful exactly how good he is.

"Graham has agreed to stay for a further two months, but the rules are that you can only sign players one month at a time," said Tait.

"He's got a lot of quality but in the past month he wasn't really match fit.

"Sometimes he's played an hour, sometimes he's played 70 minutes, but he hasn't been fully fit.

"The fans haven't seen the best of Graham and when they do they'll see his real quality."

Darlington will revert to a flat back four - whether Whitehead is fit or not - with Neil Wainwright and Adam Rundle giving the Quakers width.

At Bury, Darlington played with three at the back, a change in formation that appeared to work for 87 minutes until the Shakers hit back to level with two late goals .

Tait said: "The idea last weekend was to match up with the opposition.

"I won't pretend we played well but we were two up and it was very disappointing to throw away that lead.

"But it's Boston that we're thinking of now and we've had them watched a couple of times.

"They've had some poor performances this season but they've also had some decent results."

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