DARLINGTON hope to agree a deal to land a former Middlesbrough midfielder whose career was almost ended when he contracted cancer as a teenager.

Assistant manager Kevin Richardson has revealed that Norton and Stockton Ancients right-sided playmaker Nathan Mulligan is set to join Quakers and could be included in the squad facing Hereford United tomorrow afternoon.

Richardson also confirmed the club expect to bolster their goalkeeping resources with the acquisition of Ashlee Jones who has enjoyed spells at Crystal Palace and Wycombe Wanderers.

If Mulligan makes his League Two bow this weekend it would cap a remarkable comeback for the 23-year-old from Ingleby Barwick whose brother Dale also plays for Ancients and father Mick is the club chairman.

Mulligan was at the Rockcliffe Academy at the same time that future Darlington players David Knight and Jason Kennedy were playing alongside the likes of Adam Johnson and David Wheater en-route to securing FA Youth Cup glory for Boro.

But after he was diagnosed with cancer, Mulligan was forced to drop out of the game for a year. Despite battling back from illness the midfielder was unable to regain his momentum at Boro, but his impressive performances in the Northern League this season could have landed him a lifeline back into the Football League.

“Nathan can play rightmidfield or on the wing,”

noted Richardson. “He can come in off the line and link up, he has good vision and you can tell he’s had a good upbringing at the Middlesbrough Academy.

“He was recommended to us so we invited him in for training. He’s impressed us this week and we think he can do a job for us. He was well-regarded when he was at Boro but due to his illness unfortunately things didn’t work out for him. Hopefully he can make the most of his chance with us.”

Both Nathan and Dale had trials with Darlington under David Hodgson.

Richardson admitted that following the end of Russell Hoult’s loan spell, the management team have been working to find competition for goalkeepers Knight and Nick Liversedge.

“We felt that the position needed reinforcing,’’ he revealed. “Steve (Staunton) had a few no-goes last week when he was trying to bring someone in. But Ashlee is an ex-Crystal Palace boy and we had a chat with (on loan striker) Simon Thomas about him.

“We’ve put him through his paces this week and he’s a big strong young lad and we’re looking to tie that deal up. It’s ongoing and deals can always fall through at the last minute as we’ve already seen this season but we are hopeful there won’t be any hitches and we get the pair of them.”

Forward Serigne Mor Diop could debut tomorrow after the Ghanaian proved his fitness in training, while Gary Smith and Mark Bower face tests today before they will be considered for inclusion the party travelling to Edgar Street.

But defender Ian Miller remains a major doubt after suffering concussion at Barnet in last weekend’s 3-0 loss.