A DEFIANT Matt Clarke has reassured fans that all is not lost, and has insisted that, despite Darlington suffering their second straight defeat at the weekend, a play-off place remains within their sights.

Saturday's single goal loss at the hands of Shrewsbury Town has cast fresh doubts over Quakers' top seven credentials.

It wasn't so much the result, but the manner of the defeat in which David Hodgson's side capitulated, that many supporters have seemingly thrown in the towel.

Amazingly, despite suffering their tenth defeat of the season, Quakers are just four points shy of the play-off zone.

Prior to losing at Peterborough last week, Quakers had suffered just one defeat in their previous 12 league outings.

It is largely thanks to that recent run that Quakers remain in contention.

With 12 games remaining, Clarke is not contemplating finishing any lower than seventh.

"It would be heartbreaking to miss out," admitted the former Halifax defender. "We want the play-offs more than ever and so do the fans.

"We have 12 games left and to throw it all away now, after coming back into the picture, would be a massive blow.

"We're not going to give up. Two back-to-back defeats is disappointing, but it's not the end of the world.

"We can't afford to lose many more games, thinking we still have a chance of making the play-offs. Eventually, the door is going to be shut and we won't have any choice."

But for the commanding presence of Clarke and Shelton Martis, Quakers may have been punished earlier than they were.

Colin McMenamin's 55th minute strike settled proceedings and Clarke was blunt in his assessment of their first home defeat since September.

The 25-year-old felt, after losing at London Road four days earlier, the visit of Shrewsbury, who started the day 13th in League Two, provided Quakers with a chance to redeem themselves.

But, Clarke admitted Saturday's poor performance bore a worrying resemblance to their early season form against so-called lesser sides.

He said "We've done ever so well of late, but we have shot ourselves in the foot today.

"We knew they were nothing special and I just think it was a case of us not performing and Shrewsbury wanting it more.

"There were battles all over the pitch that we weren't winning. It felt like the start of the season when the tempo was low and we weren't taking the game to teams.

"We couldn't seem to get the ball into dangerous areas to cause them any problems."

And, while there were few words Hodgson could offer his beleaguered players at full-time, one statistic did stand out for the Quakers boss.

Saturday's defeat means of their 34 games this season, his side have failed to win 11 against teams in the bottom half of League Two.

"The manager couldn't even put his finger on what went wrong - we just didn't seem to have that spark," said Clarke.

"He said he sensed something before the match. It's against the teams at the top that we normally compete, but we sometimes struggle with those near the bottom.

"I'm not sure whether some of us were complacent, but we didn't seem to have the focus we usually have.

"He didn't section out individuals and I think we all have to hold our hands up."

Seven days earlier, Clarke and his team-mates were relishing a trip to Peterborough after moving up to sixth following a 1-1 draw with play-off rivals Bristol Rovers.

Fifth-placed Leyton Orient await Quakers at Brisbane Road this weekend and Clarke admitted: "It just shows you that a week can be such a long time in football.

"We've made our home games count this season, but I don't think anyone was expecting this.

"All we can do is keep our heads up. We have a tough game at Leyton Orient and we must win there to make up for this defeat."

Indeed, if Quakers are to claim their first win at Orient in 40 years, the confidence, which has been drained from their last two outings, would go some considerable length to being restored.

And, depending on other results at the weekend, Quakers' push for the play-offs may not be as distant as the majority of Saturday's 3,898 crowd were fearing.

"The complexion of the league can change all over again if we get something down there," said Clarke. "We have to remain positive and hope for the best at Orient. Its important that we start winning again and hopefully put another good run together."

Read more about the Quakers here.