Darlington have begun their appeal against Saturday's two controversial red cards but manager Tommy Taylor is sceptical about the chances of them being rescinded.

Referee Paul Alcock saw fit to send off Barry Conlon and Mark Ford during the 7-1 defeat at Scunthorpe for first half fouls.

He also sent Darlington's assistant manager Mick Tait to the stands and awarded the hosts a controversial penalty.

Darlington were outraged, especially with the red card decisions as each alleged foul appeared innocuous.

Taylor, who viewed a tape of the game for the first time last night, said: "All the FA will do is send the tape to the referee and he has to change his mind to get the red cards cancelled and he's not going to do that.

"We'll see what we can do about Paul Campbell because he got booked for speaking to Mick Tait. What the referee will say in his match report I don't know. "Why should we have referees that are not good enough for the Premiership? If they aren't good enough for them, what makes them good enough for us?" A personal hearing will be held before the suspensions are due to take effect, which is on December 8, the day Darlington play in the second round of the FA Cup at either Lancaster City or Altrincham, who replay this evening.

During Alcock's last visit to Scunthorpe in April, the Surrey-based official sent off three Carlisle United players as the hosts ran out 3-0 winners.

The Cumbrians appealed against Tony Hopper's red card, but Alcock refused to change his mind.

Chairman George Reynolds has paid tribute to the Darlington fans who made the journey to Glanford Park and told how some Scunthorpe directors felt embarrassed by the nature of their win and vacated their seats well before full-time.

"Our fans stuck with them right to the end," said Reynolds. "I was amazed how they stayed with them and cheered the lads off. Full credit to them for that, they were real die-hards.

"I want them to know that we really appreciate that. My message to the fans is: keep that up and we will go places."

Striker Danny Mellanby is in the frame for a return to first-team action on Saturday when Quakers host York City, while midfielders Brian Atkinson (hamstring) and Gary Pearson (achilles) are also on the comeback trail.

Mellanby suffered a knee injury four weeks ago and was ready to play in the reserves' match at Feethams against Walsall (7pm) tomorrow, but Taylor is having second thoughts.

"Danny trained this morning and he was very sharp," Taylor said. "He got a little bit sore so he came off with ten minutes to go, but I might just leave him out on Wednesday so he's ready for Saturday.

"Brian came through fine and he should play on Wednesday. Pearson was a little bit sore but he looked very sharp as well."

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