Darlington skipper Craig Liddle yesterday warned his teammates: "I don't want to finish second from bottom."

After a sparkling run of just one defeat in 12 games from mid-February to propel them away from relegation trouble, Quakers have lost their last two games to bring them back down to earth.

They take on bottom-placed Torquay at Plainmoor tonight and if they pick up a point, Quakers are mathematically safe from relegation. The only way Quakers could suffer the drop now is if they endure four heavy defeats in their last four games.

Liddle, though, isn't contemplating defeat. "We need a big improvement," he said. "I thought we were poor on Saturday, one of our worst performances for a while. "I think that was because safety was in the minds of a lot of our players, and we didn't really get going.

"Some people weren't too displeased, but I thought we were very poor. We could still be playing now, and not scored. I spoke to a few of the lads on Sunday morning, and they agreed with me.

"Our supporters deserve better, especially those who are going to Torquay. We must play for pride. Personally, I want to finish in a respectable position in the table. We're 15th at the moment, and I don't want to finish second from bottom after the season we've had.

"The season has by no means finished, because we've still got four games to play, and I want us to finish well."

Manager Gary Bennett could recall midfielder Mark Ford to play against his old club, in place of Mark Kilty, who suffered an ankle injury on Saturday against Hull. Ford has missed the last three matches with a similar injury.

Bennett is a little concerned about the effects of a heavy schedule of two games per week, as they head to the south-west for the fifth time this season.

He said: "I took John Williams off because he was weary in the second half. You have to remember that he missed the start of the season at York."

Meanwhile, Torquay could bring Welshman Eifion Williams as they desperately look for points to lift them off the bottom.

l One-time Hartlepool trialist Habib Sissoko played up front at Plymouth on Saturday, but was sacked yesterday following an incident when he was subbed at Home Park.

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