Neil Wainwright last night conceded Darlington's season has been a massive disappointment - but believes the club's off-the-field problems are not the only reason for Quakers' downfall.

Darlington's season, especially the latter half, has been plagued by discontent away from the pitch with the infamous fans' forum in February catching the most publicity.

And if things were not bad enough, then came the offer of a wage cut to Craig Liddle, who is set to play his last game for the club today, while full-back Paul Heckingbottom may never turn-out for Quakers again having turned down a new contract.

Before all this came Gary Bennett's decision to step down as boss while the new incumbent of the managers' office, Tommy Taylor, has been allowed to buy just one player with the others being either free transfers or loans.

The signature - of Ian Clark from Hartlepool - has been a resounding success as he has netted 13 goals since his £15,000 switch.

But Wainwright refuses to pin-point the troubles for causing Quakers to freefall into mid-table obscurity having occupied a top ten spot in November.

"Overall it's been a disappointing season, but it's been a combination of things really," said Wainwright, who arrived at Feethams a week into the season and made his debut the following day at home to Kidderminster.

"It doesn't help when you lose a manager. We've had some injuries and all the off-the-field problems too.

"The aim was to qualify for the play-offs, but the season hasn't worked out how we expected. We've had terrible injury problems this year.

"Colly has been out for a long time, Lidds was out twice. They are our key players and we've only got a small squad."

And that squad promises to get even smaller as Taylor must next year build a first-team squad of 22 men - including youngsters David McGurk, Adam Rundle and Mark Sheeran - who all broke into the side this season. The club have utilised 34 men this season but injuries have meant some players have been forced to play out of position such as Richard Hodgson and Wainwright.

Wainwright started Monday's game at home to Plymouth as a striker alongside and it was an experience he did not enjoy.

He explained: "Glenn got a last minute injury so the gaffer played me and Clarky up front just to change things around a bit."

"Sometimes I don't mind playing there but on Monday it was very tough.

"Every time we cleared it they were winning the ball in the air and that's not really my game.

"Graham Coughlan was excellent in the air, you can see why he's in the PFA team of the year, and I think he's one of their leading scorers after scoring from set-pieces so much."

Meanwhile, Wainwright was also keen to praise the fantastic support the players have received all season through difficult times.

"The fans are tremendous and the support we got at Exeter after what happened during the previous week (fans' forum walkout) was fantastic,'' he admitted.

"I don't know how the rest of the lads feel but the crowd spurs me on.

"It can give you a buzz, it gives you confidence if you do something good and the crowd get going.

"The fans are the most important people at the end of the day.

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