Darlington's under-performing players have been given an ultimatum: Take a pay cut or leave the club.

Raj Singh, the club's chairman, does not believe some players have been value for money so wants to re-negotiate their salaries as Quakers prepare for a third season outside of the Football League.

The team have had an awful start to the season, losing nine of their 20 games in all competitions, which means promotion is already unlikely as they reside in the bottom half of the Blue Square Bet Premier.

Darlington are already out of the FA Cup after losing 3-0 in a replay at Hinckley United on Tuesday.

That result represented an all-time low for the club and one that cost Quakers £12,500 in prize-money alone.

Losing the match, that saw Hinckley secure a home game with Tamworth in the first round proper, also meant Darlington were denied an opportunity of securing a money-spinning tie in the third round - something Singh had been desperately hoping for to help alleviate his financial input.

He is pumping around £80,000 a month into the club, but was at Hinckley on Tuesday after travelling on the team bus and The Northern Echo understands the defeat and the manner of performance was the final straw for the chairman, who is set to elaborate on his pay-cut plans in the club's match programme tomorrow.

He is rapidly running out of patience having given, he believes, previous manager Mark Cooper enough funds to mount a serious promotion bid this season.

Cooper was sacked at the beginning of last week and Singh is yet to appoint a replacement.

Caretaker manager Craig Liddle remains in charge. He will pick the team for tomorrow's game at The Northern Echo with AFC Telford.

They are a team that Quakers defeated during the FA Trophy run last season, but much has changed since winning at Wembley in May, not least the playing personnel with Cooper having significantly altered the squad.

But Singh has been left disappointed with the majority of Cooper's signings in relation to their salaries.

He is aware of the finances available at some of division's lesser-supported clubs - such as Barrow, Gateshead and Southport, all of which are above Darlington in the table - and he now wants to see the squad take a reality check.

The players are aware of the chairman's intent, but as they have the backing their union, the Professional Footballers Association, it us unclear how far Singh will be able to go with his plan.

The chairman will discuss the details of his proposal with the players, but first Darlington get tomorrow's game out of the way after which there is a two-week break until they are next in action.

In the meantime, Singh and managing director Graham Fordy will speak with several managerial candidates this weekend and Ronnie Moore is in the frame after revealing his desire to become Quakers' boss in yesterday's Northern Echo.

Singh's pursuit of Middlesbrough coach Colin Cooper floundered at the beginning of the week when talks between both parties broke down.

Boro boss Tony Mowbray, however, says he would not prevent the club's under-18s coach from leaving should the opportunity to manage arise.

"I'm not sure how much has been said publicly,'' he said. "What I would say is that if that is something he would like to do, then he can do so with my blessing.

"I was a young coach at Ipswich Town when the opportunity came around to manage. I went to the manager, explained my desire to manage and he shook me by the hand and said ‘off you go'.

"Sometimes it works in football, sometimes it doesn't. Anybody who wants to go into management knows the risks.

"You could be out of work in weeks, a month, a year, and if you're not a success in your first job you might never get the chance again.

"There's no poaching going on, if both parties want it to happen, we could facilitate that but Colin is doing a very good job with our youth team."

Meanwhile, Liddle will again oversee training today and, despite being in charge of the first-team affairs, he does not want to miss the youth team's bid to make it seven wins in a row when they play Hartlepool United tomorrow morning.

The league cup game kicks-off at 11am at East Durham College's Houghall campus and Liddle, Quakers' head of youth, intends to prepare the team and watch the first hour before heading for the Arena.

Former Darlington loanee goalkeeper Ole Soderberg has joined Chesterfield on loan from Newcaste United.