IT is too early in the season to pay attention to any league table as no judgements are valid until after nine or ten games, believes Mark Cooper.

Yet the fact that his Darlington side have already lost three games is a concern, and just as worrying is the manner of those defeats.

In the eight matches so far, performances have been disappointing more often than they have been satisfactory, and Saturday’s 2-0 loss at Luton Town certainly belongs to the former category.

Quakers were second best throughout, and while they were hardly assisted by the controversial sending off of centre-back Grame Lee just before half-time, there was never a period during which Luton were under sustained pressure.

Hatters keeper Mark Tyler was only called upon to save the occasional long-range effort as the hosts continued their undefeated start to the season with a goal in each half at Kenilworth Road.

That made it consecutive defeats for Darlington, following the 2-0 reverse at home to Mansfield Town, while they have been disappointing on other occasions this season, leading to Cooper continually altering personnel.

On Saturday, there were four changes. He brought in Spanish defender Jonatan Sanchez-Munoz for his debut at left-back, recalled Chris Atkinson in midfield and restored Liam Hatch and James Walshaw to the front-line.

But the tinkering did not have the desired effect, admitted assistant manager Richard Dryden.

“We’ve pointed a few fingers in the changing room today, singled people out,”

said Dryden, fronting up as Cooper chose not to speak to the media after the game. “If we want to win anything you need more quality on the ball than we had.

“There was a lack of quality, even though we know the players have quality. I think they can show it a bit more.

“We want more and expect more from our players because you see in training how good they are. You can accept maybe one or two not playing well, but we need to get hold of the ball and link up better.

“When it was 11 v 11 did we create enough? I’d say no. Last week against Mansfield, after the first 20 minutes we created enough to win the game, but that’s now two games without a goal. These are both good sides that we’ve played, but we know that we’re a good side too.

“It’s up to us and the players to gives themselves a shakeand go on a bit of a run.”

Luton have plenty of quality of their own. The adage ‘you get what you pay for’ rang true as recent £75,000 signing Stuart Fleetwood proved a difficult opponent, twisting and turning his way past challenges.

The striker was denied a shot by a fantastic challenge from Ian Miller in the penalty area, but it was Fleetwood’s pass that set-up the first goal just past the half-hour mark.

He slipped the ball into unmarked strike partner Danny Crow to slot past Sam Russell during one of the rare moments of incident during a largely low-key first half.

Both teams lacked a threat, though Darlington suffered a blow when James Walshaw limped off with a dead leg.

That saw Cooper send on Ryan Bowman, but he had a major re-think on his hands when Lee saw red. Having already been booked for a rough challenge, the defender received a second yellow after a sliding tackle close to the touchline had grounded Amari Morgan-Smith.

It was tough on Lee and meant the odds were stacked against Quakers. They could even have gone down to nine had Sanchez-Munoz been showed a red, as some referees would have done, after a bodycheck on Morgan-Smith.

But the Spaniard survived and formed a three-man defence after the break, with Ben Purkiss and Miller, as Darlington attempted to salvage a point.

“If you’re going to lose you might as well have a go,” added Dryden. “We could’ve played four at the back and four in midfield with one up front in the second half, but we wanted to have a go.

“I thought we were in the ascendancy now and again until the second goal went in, and that was a very poor goal to concede.”

After Fleetwood had two long-range efforts saved by Russell, the killer second goal came with just under 20 minutes to go with the Luton striker finally getting a goal on his home debut.

He headed home from a Robbie Willmott corner, though Russell may have got the last touch as he attempted to punch clear, and from that point there was only going to be one winner.

Luton wasted chances for a third, while Darlington’s day worsened when Greg Taylor, who played in midfield, sustained a slight hamstring injury.

He is hopeful of recovering in time for the visit of Hayes & Yeading on Saturday, a game that, with trips to York and Cambridge to come, Quakers can ill-afford not to win.

MATCHFACTS

Goals: 1-0: Crow (31, low finish from closerange after being played in by Fleetwood) 2-0: Fleetwood (71, leapt with Russell to meet a corner, the keeper almost punched the ball into his own net)
Bookings: Hatch (41, foul), Sanchez- Munoz (45, foul); Morgan-Smith (58, entering field of play without permission), Hand (69, foul) Sending-off: Lee (42, two bookable offences)
Referee: Will Atkin (Sussex) – Appeared to be influenced by the home support, especially when sending off Lee 6
Attendance: 5,951
Entertainment: ***

LUTON TOWN (4-4-2): Tyler 6; Keane 7, Beckwith 7, Antwi 7, Howells 6; Morgan-Smith 5 (Dance 62, 6), Lawless 6, Hand 7, Willmott 7; FLEETWOOD 8, Crow 7 (Kissock 85).

Subs (not used): Pilkington (gk), Watkins, O’Connor

DARLINGTON (4-1-3-2)

6 Russell: Some good saves kept the score down, though beaten to the cross from which the second goal came
7 Purkiss: Slotted well into a back three after the break when Quakers were down to ten men
8 MILLER: Made his usual contribution of sliding tackles, including one superb one on Fleetwood
6 Lee: A harsh second yellow card means a suspension for the reliable centre-back
6 Sanchez-Munoz: A steady debut for the Spaniard, though earned a yellow card for one brutal challenge
5 Rundle: Spent most of the game on the left-wing where he didn’t have much joy before being replaced in the second half
6 G Taylor: Switched from leftback to midfield where he made his presence felt with a number of tough challenges
7 Arnison: Sometimes made a stray pass, but earned praise from Dryden after the game for showing heart
5 Atkinson: Struggled to make an impact on the game as Quakers lost the midfield battle
5 Hatch: Recalled against one of his former clubs after a spell on the bench, but unable to hold the ball up
5 Walshaw: Substituted after a suffering a dead leg early in the game

Subs
Bowman (for Walshaw 28): Unable to have a huge influence on the match 5
Bridge-Wilkinson (for Rundle 65): Played out the left where he saw little of the ball 5
Campbell (for Hatch 77)
Not used: Chandler, K Taylor

MAN OF THE MATCH
STUART Fleetwood – a goal and an assist for the striker who was making his home debut.