DARLINGTON chairman George Reynolds will face the fans tonight, despite the turmoil at the club.

Mr Reynolds insists he will be at the game against Macclesfield - the first home match since his wife Susan ignited a national controversy.

Mrs Reynolds has insisted that a statement in which she suggested that players had thrown matches has been misconstrued.

But passions are still running high and Mrs Reynolds, a club director, will not be at tonight's game.

Her husband said: "If I get a bad reaction, I'll just take it on the chin. I've never run away from anything and I won't start now.

"It's important that I show my face because I don't want anyone to get the impression that I'm ready to run away from this club. I'm not.

"If the fans don't have faith in me to move the club upwards and make it financially stable, who do they suggest could do it?"

Reynolds also took issue yesterday with claims from manager Tommy Taylor that the controversy will force a player crisis.

Taylor hit out after Reynolds said at the weekend that he didn't care if players turned out for games because he was happy to see the back of some of them.

Taylor responded by saying: "It won't be easy for me to get new players when they know what the chairman's like."

But the chairman reacted to his manager's comments, saying: "That's rubbish. There are thousands of players out there who would love to play for Darlington on the wages I pay.

"The thing people don't realise is that there are plenty of managers and plenty of players but very few benefactors."

Although it's possible the chairman will be on the receiving end of fans' backlash, Taylor believes they will continue to back the players as they did at Exeter.

He said: "They were magnificent on Saturday and I'm sure they'll be behind the team again. I can only praise the fans for the way they've reacted, and the players too because they haven't kicked up a fuss.

"The fans up here appreciate football and really love the game, that's easy to see.

"The fans will be behind the team like they have been all the season.

"The only time they weren't was against Torquay and on that day we deserved to get booed from the field because we were terrible."

Craig Liddle provided some good news when he declared himself fit for tonight's game, having recovered from a cracked ankle.

He'll slot into the back four, replacing either David McGurk or David Brightwell.

But Paul Campbell is now out for around three weeks with ligament damage.

The midfielder looked set for a run in the team until suffering the injury, which has opened the first-team door for Mark Convery, who was preferred ahead of Richard Hodgson at Exeter.

"I thought Campbell did ever so well at Leyton Orient and that's why he stayed in. But Convery's got his chance now and it's up to him to take it," said Taylor.

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