In the aftermath of an amazing fans' forum, when George Reynolds' wife, Susan, implied the team deliberately lost at home to Torquay last week, Darlington take on Exeter this afternoon looking for a massive improvement.

With accusations of "throwing matches" still ringing in their ears, the players will be determined to demonstrate what they're made of and manager Tommy Taylor wants his team to use Thursday night's events to spur them on to a better performance.

Taylor said: "I hope they use what happened on Thursday to give them a gee-up. They might have just needed that to inspire them.

"I honestly don't know how they'll react but we'll see at Exeter."

Quakers need more than geeing-up because seven days ago they put in a woeful display as they lost 3-1 at Feethams to Torquay, a display so bad it led Mrs Reynolds to infer the team had lost deliberately.

Her reasoning was that a Torquay team who'd spent a day travelling North and were sitting second-bottom of the table shouldn't be beating mid-table Darlington.

But as Quakers' captain Craig Liddle later said, players can have good games and bad games, and that explains the defeat to Torquay.

Against the Gulls, Quakers weren't just bad, they were shockingly bad, and today they've got a tough test on their hands against an Exeter led by striker Christian Roberts, a Taylor target when he arrived at Feethams as manager in October.

Roberts will be a major threat and Taylor has warned his players to be on their guard.

Taylor paid tribute to the former Swansea ace, saying: "He can score goals, he can go past people and he really is a very good player at this level.

"I made an offer for him when I first came to Darlington because I needed some pace up front. I don't think Exeter were too pleased with the offer and said 'don't be stupid' before putting the phone down on me!

"I don't think there's much chance of us signing him now, not when there's clubs like West Brom and other First Division clubs looking at him."

Since last Saturday's defeat Darlington managed a scoreless draw at Leyton Orient, where injuries again meant Taylor had to give 19-year-old defender David McGurk 90 minutes at left-back.

Although McGurk has played well in his few appearances, as have 17-year-old Adam Rundle and 19-year-old Mark Sheeran, he is not yet a regular, and Taylor says he's reluctant to field the young trio too often for fear of "burning them out".

Worried supporters have suggested Taylor doesn't rate the youth team members, but he said he's going to offer them all professional contracts

"I can say that McGurk, Sheeran and Rundle are all excellent players and will have good careers, whether it's at Darlington or not.

"I've spoken to them all about it and it's just a case of sitting them down and signing a contract. McGurk and young Sheeran are both 19 so they'll be signing a contract this summer. Because of the Bosman rule we hold their registration until they're 24 so they can't just walk away."

Regardless of Taylor's good intentions, injuries to first-team players mean he is being forced to play the young ones, with Barry Conlon the latest to join the sick list with a damaged cartilage which has ruled him out for the season.

Goalkeeper Andy Collett may not even be ready to play until after the beginning of next season after suffering a collapsed lung.

Collett was set for a comeback today, having recovered from two broken ribs, but instead the number one spot remains in the hands of Keith Finch.

Danny Mellanby hasn't travelled to Devon having incurred a trapped nerve in his back which also kept him out of Tuesday's trip to Leyton Orient, while Gary Pearson is still feeling discomfort in his hamstring when sprinting and isn't likely to return before Tuesday's game at home to Macclesfield Town.

Liddle suffered a cracked ankle nearly three weeks ago but after successfully coming through a training session Taylor is hopeful the captain will return on Tuesday. Simon Betts suffered a gashed leg at Carlisle and he isn't expected back for a further three weeks.

With Mellanby and Conlon out, Neil Maddison is expected to pay up front today, having played there on Tuesday after coming on as a second-half substitute

Read more about Darlington FC here.