BRENTFORD provide Darlington’s final home opposition of the season on Saturday and the promotion-chasers will be hoping to say ‘look at what you could’ve won’.

Last night the Bees lost at Dagenham and missed an opportunity to win the League Two title so they will try again this weekend against a Quakers side that could so easily have been competing with them for the crown.

After beating Grimsby in mid-February, Darlington were eight points off the top with three games in hand.

But later that week former chairman George Houghton plunged the club’s future into doubt, and two months later Darlington find themselves in mid-table.

Should Brentford win the title at The Northern Echo Darlington Arena, they would receive their trophy after the final game of the season next week.

Darlington defender Ian Miller admits it could have been Quakers collecting the silverware.

“We were just saying the other day that it could have been us. We were pushing strongly for automatic promotion,”

said Miller, who turned down the chance to sign for Brentford when he joined Quakers in 2007.

“Genuinely, at the club around Christmas-time we thought this was our year, and then we had the bitter blow at the end of February.”

In November Darlington were only denied a win at Brentford by an injury time goal, and the same thing happened at the current thirdplaced side Wycombe.

“That’s what makes football so exciting,” added Miller.

“It’s not always the best team that wins the league, it’s the team that picks up points regularly and we’ve dropped points at silly places.

“There was a chance we could still have made the playoffs, despite the deduction, but a couple of results, like at Accrington and Macclesfield at home, mean we aren’t going to be there.

“I always think that we play better against the better teams.

“Plus, conditions at home aren’t always so brilliant. The pitch isn’t so great, but you have seen recently at Chesterfield we played on a nice pitch with some green stuff on it and we played some good football.”

Quakers complete the season a week on Saturday at relegation- threatened Chester City and Miller added: “In both games we’ve got left there is something riding on them, mainly for the opposition.

“Whether it’s Brentford at the top or Chester at the bottom, there’s no ‘nothing’ games for the rest of the season and the lads are not going to throw in the towel.

“All we can do is keep performing and hopefully someone will buy the club.

“We’ve all got mortgages to pay, and whether it’s at this club or another club, everyone is playing for their future.”