Craig Liddle may have been Darlington's caretaker manager for less than a week but so determined is he to succeed he is already having sleepless nights over the club's two games taking place today.

As well as an FA Cup tie with Hinckley United at The Northern Echo Arena, he has also had an eye on a youth team match.

The club's teenagers play at Stockton Town in the Durham Challenge Cup, a 1.30pm kick-off at the Teessiders' Bishopton Road West ground. Captain Ian Miller oversees that match, while Liddle hopes to start his third spell as caretaker with two wins.

"Neil Maddison has been helping out and I've got part-time staff and they're doing little bits and pieces to help out. People are chipping in, which I'm grateful for," said Liddle, whose assistant in the dug-out today will be Chris Swailes, a former defender who played for Doncaster, Bury and Rotherham among others.

"But it's still not easy. I woke up at 4 o'clock this morning trying to pick two teams. A lot is going through my head at the moment.

"The youth team boys have got a game so we've got to prepare them. Ian Miller will take them so I've managed to have that taken care of. Now I'm fully focused on the first-team.

"Hopefully we'll get it done and dusted and there won't be a replay on Tuesday because there's a youth team game on Wednesday so that would add to my workload!"

Despite worrying over who to pick, and he says the squad are starting afresh with any disagreements with previous manager Mark Cooper now forgotten, Liddle says he is enjoying being in charge.

He said: "This is the third time and it's something that you get used to over time. I've been asked to do a job and I'm quite looking forward to it.

"I'm a little bit more relaxed this time. I've got a bit more experience under my belt now and it's a good squad, on paper.

"Without being disrespectful it's a stronger squad to work with than in previous times so I'm quite looking forward to it and I'll enjoy it, or try to.

"I always felt we were up against it last time, when I took over from Colin Todd then Steve Staunton, because the squad wasn't as strong as it needed to be at the level we were playing at.

"This time it's more than capable of competing. You would like to think we're capable of getting one or to wins under our belt."

Although he did not want the job permanently when in temporary charge twice during the 2009-10 season, he is reckoned by the bookies to be the club's first-choice as Cooper's successor.

Unlike previous spells as a stop-gap, Liddle has not publicly said he does not want to make the step up.

But asked yesterday if he wants the job, the 40-year-old said: "I haven't given it too much thought because there's so many things going on at the club so I haven't had time to sit down and think about it.

"I've had a brief chat with the chairman, but nothing will be decided yet. We'll get this game out of the way, which will hopefully give us a bit of breathing space.

"A friend of mine, Chris Swailes, is coming in to help us out over the weekend. He's got other commitments, but he's very kindly agreed to help us out on Saturday and we'll reassess things after the weekend.

"The bigger picture is about the football club, not Craig Liddle, so the chairman has got to do what he feels necessary to bring the right person in.

"The chairman would like to have a manager in next week, but he's got a lot of things to assess. So I don't think he'll allow anyone to back him into a corner and if it takes a bit longer then so be it. But the sooner the new manager can get cracking the better."