DARLINGTON Mowden Park are looking to make slight improvements in a bid to start motoring ahead of Plymouth Albion's long trek to The Northern Echo Arena on Saturday (3pm).

Mowden return to home soil when they welcome Albion and the two sides are separated by just a single point in what is an important game in National One.

Head coach Garry Law has decided to make three changes to his starting 15.

The only change in the pack sees Talite Vaioleti start at lock alongside Max Davies, with Joe Craggs shifting into the back row. George Stokes starts at openside, while 1st XV captain Ollie Hodgson is in line for his 100th appearance.

In the backs, Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti retains his place at scrum half, with Warren Seals continuing at ten. Last week’s try scorer Ollie Walker is promoted from the bench to start alongside Ben Dixon in the centres, while Morgan Passman comes in for his first Mowden appearance on the left.

Law said: “We've had a good chance to review the last couple of weeks as a whole squad. Whilst we haven't been firing on all cylinders we haven't been far away.

"We've identified certain parts of our game that we haven't been consistently good enough at and are putting all our focus on getting the small things right which in turn will help get our game to where we want it.

"The squad have trained very well this week and I'm sure we will see a reaction this weekend against a very big and well drilled Plymouth team.”

Saturday's visitors currently sit in tenth in the league, two spots behind Mowden. Albion have won four of their opening ten fixtures. All of those wins have come at home, with victories over Rotherham, Canterbury, Sale and Moseley.

Last week's win over Moseley came thanks to tries from Sam Morley, Connor Eastgate and Dean Squire. Mowden, meanwhile, fell to their first away loss of the season with a 18-8 defeat at Sale.

Last season's meetings between the two were both won by the home side. The game at the Arena ended in a dramatic 22-19 win for Mowden, thanks to a last minute penalty from Seals.

The reverse fixture on the south coast ended in a 42-29 win for Albion, with Mowden taking a losing bonus point thanks to tries from Walker, Uzokwe, Frankland and Vaioleti.

Tickets for Saturday’s game are available on the day priced at £10 for adults, £8 for concessions and free for U16s.