Darlington may have dropped into the bottom half of the table for the first time this season, while losing their unbeaten away record, but David Hodgson has pointed out that Quakers are better off now than they were this time last season.

Despite not winning in four matches, Hodgson is remaining positive and his look through the history books provides optimism for those casting doubt over Darlington's promotion ambitions.

Quakers have played ten games and Hodgson said: "We're better off than we were at this stage in 1995/96 when we won once in the first ten and we're better off than we were last season when we also only won once in the first ten.

"Is that an omen? I don't know, all I do know is that I am not happy with losing at Bristol or losing against Oxford. Last week I had room for complaint because the performance was poor.

"This week it was not poor because at times we did very well. We created opportunities by doing the right things.

"Did we deserve to win it? No, but we there is no doubt we deserved a draw.

"I thought we were the better team in terms of build-up and keeping the ball.

"We created more opportunities than they did and we deserved a goal. Akpo Sodje missed a glorious header, Matt Clarke put one over the bar, Guy's shot was just wide and we had one or two penalty claims. A few weeks ago those were going in."

Season 95/96 ended with Darlington at Wembley and last season, despite being infuriatingly inconsistent throughout, Quakers only missed out on the play-offs on goal difference.

And for those seeking solace in statistics ahead of tomorrow night when 20th placed Boston United visit Darlington, it should be noted that during those aforementioned seasons when Quakers started the season poorly but ended close to glory, they won the 11th game.

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