Darlington will have some big decisions to make if they win at Halifax tomorrow and start the countdown towards National League rugby.

As the other candidates for promotion from North One, Hull Ionians, visit Darlington next week the season has reached a crucial stage.

"I think the club is ready for the national leagues, but it's a professional game and it's all about finance," said player-coach Craig Lee.

"We have good young players coming through, but we would also have to recruit some big forwards."

Lee would lay out the welcome mat for his former Stockton colleague Alan Brown, who considered making the switch last summer but decided to remain as player-coach with his home club.

"If we got some injuries in the forwards at the moment we would struggle," said Lee. "The top teams in National Three have big squads with quality players throughout.

"There are players who might come here but would be worried about whether they would be first choice in their position, when what they need to think about is taking their chance when they get it.

"It's up to them, just as it's up to the club to decide how far they want to go. Phil Lancaster and I are putting are own ideas forward towards a four-year plan."

With big forwards a priority, it's quite likely that Darlington and Mowden Park will find themselves chasing the same targets. And if they're doing it in the same division people will again start asking why they didn't amalgamate six or seven years ago.

Darlington have been promoted as runners-up to Halifax in each of the last two years, beating them only once, and Lee said: "They have been a bit of a stumbling block mentally more than anything.

"We have the skills to beat them but we seem to freeze a bit against them and have never really been in the running at their place.

"We tend to hit the panic button too early down there, but if play our patterns and remain patient we can beat them.

"A lot of their games against the top teams have been very tight, so if it's nip and tuck after 75 minutes we have to stay calm and believe that we can nick it.

"We are defending quite well and playing with more belief now that the young lads are not as overawed as they were at the start of the season.

"We've had six of the last nine weeks off, and people like Bryan Dixon and me would rather keep playing. But rest doesn't do any harm as long as you train well, which we have done."

It is hoped that skipper David Glendenning will be fit to return after missing the game against Middlesbrough two weeks ago and there are unlikely to be any other changes.

With Paul Beattie on Fire Service training until the end of April, Marc Potts will continue on the wing and offers goal-kicking back-up for Glendenning.

The hearing into scrum half Rob Stewart's sending off against Macclesfield will be held next Thursday.

Middlesbrough have seven games left to haul themselves out of trouble starting with the visit of fourth-placed West Park St Helens.

As they also have Wigton, Aspatria and Sheffield at home they are not yet doomed. But with three likely to go down if West Hartlepool and Sandal come down from the league above, Boro simply cannot afford to lose.

"We haven't thrown in the towel, but we have to start looking at next season," said player-coach John Dixon. "It's up to the club to decide what they want."

Dean Gardner comes in at No 8 for injured skipper Richard McRae and it is hoped that Jon Wrigley, Andy Dean and Tom Lauriston will be fit to return in the backs.

Stockton are at home to North Two East's bottom club Bridlington, while Redcar entertain second-placed Huddersfield.

Injury-hit Stockton have to play flanker Joe Green on the wing, with Tony Smith joining Phil Austen and Jamie Brown in the back row. Flanker Brett Wildridge is named on the bench after injury.

Full back Kevin McCallum, who recently left Darlington Mowden Park to join Blaydon, has now moved on to Consett.

Because of his work at Nissan he feels he would struggle to train regularly with Blaydon and has teamed up with his former Mowden and Durham City coach Eddie Bell.

Consett are fourth from the bottom in Durham and Northumberland Division One and are at home tomorrow to West Hartlepool TDSOB, who are one place below them