Darlington's Craig Liddle last night denied he was about to sign for Hull City amid reports of his imminent departure from Feethams.

The captain has been strongly linked with the Boothferry Park club, who recently appointed Jan Molby as manager, but Liddle says he's going nowhere.

"I have not spoken to any clubs at all," he said. "As far as I'm concerned I'll be a Darlington player next season, unless I'm told otherwise."

At the beginning of the month Liddle looked all set to leave the Quakers after he was asked to accept a cut in wages and this sparked angry protests from supporters.

Since then the club released a statement stating the central defender was to remain at Feethams.

Despite Liddle still having two years of his contract to run, the statement read: "We are determined to secure his future with Darlington Football Club."

Liddle is to attend a fans' forum in Newton Ayliffe at the Iron Horse in Emmerson Way on Monday (7.30pm).

* Full-back Mark Robinson is desperate to make an impact on the Third Divison play-offs after having to watch both of Hartlepool United's previous campaign showdowns from the stands.

The 20-year-old had to sit and look on as Pool's push for promotion ended in disaster in each of the last two seasons.

First rivals Darlington overcame Chris Turner's men and then a year ago it was Blackpool's turn to inflict defeat on the Victoria Park club.

On both occasions Robinson was there to cheer on his teammates and he believes the experience of witnessing those crunch clashes will help him cope with the pressure during the two-legs with Cheltenham.

"I was not involved in the games with Blackpool or Darlington and, to be honest, I was just glad to be a part of it," said the left-back, who is expected to start against Cheltenham on Saturday at Victoria Park.

"We have all gained experience from those matches and hopefully I can take that into my own performances.

"I want to play in the game and it will be brilliant to be playing, especially as I'm such a young lad.

"I'm growing in confidence and hopefully I can take that into the next two games."

Pool claimed the final play-off spot on the last day with a 2-0 win over Exeter City, similar to the way Blackpool did last season.

"Blackpool have gone from strength to strength after sneaking in last year," said Guisborough-born defender Robinson, who has made 38 appearances for Pool.

"They have not done badly in the higher division and we can do exactly the same.

"The spirit in the camp is unbelievable after five straight wins.

"I remember when we went to Hull on the last day a couple of seasons ago and we sneaked in on the last day when I felt it wasn't going to go for us.

"Now we have got in this time and our confidence is as high as ever."

But Robinson knows how difficult Steve Cotterill's Cheltenham side will be to overcome after being on the receiving end of two defeats already.

The Robins won 1-0 at Victoria Park and then 3-0 at Whaddon Road but Robinson, who played in both, said: "They are a strong side and we will have to work on a few things this week.

"When we played down there we tortured them for 45 minutes. If we play like that at home on Saturday and grab a couple of goals we know that will help when we go down there.

Read more about the Quakers here.