DARLINGTON can go top of the National League North table if they beat Kettering tonight – and manager Alun Armstrong wants a crowd of more than 2,000 to see them do it.

Quakers have won four of their last five matches to put them second in the table, just a point behind leaders Brackley, who are at home to Spennymoor tomorrow. They’ve scored 16 goals in their last six matches to make them the fourth-highest scoring team in the league.

Kettering have yet to win away from home this season, but Armstrong is keen to avoid any signs of complacency.

“There are no easy games in this league as we’ve said many times,” he said. “Kettering might be in a bad bit of form away from home, but we know what happens in games like this.

“We need to be at it from the off, we need to play our game, and maintain our intensity with our fans behind us. I’d love to break that 2,000 barrier.

“We’ve done it for the Walsall FA Cup game in the past, it would be great to do it for a league game. The lads deserve plenty of support at this moment in time for the way they’re playing and the way they’re going about things.

“Our football has been attractive, we’re getting some really good results and we’re scoring plenty of goals. We want the fans behind us, not just for financial reasons, but also the players deserve it for all their hard work.”

Quakers come into the game on the back of a notable 2-1 away win at Hereford last Saturday, which lifted them above King's Lynn and Scarborough in the table.

“We probably nicked that last Saturday even though I can’t remember Tommy making a save," said Armstrong. "I thought we defended exceptionally well from front to back. We deserved to win the game in the end.

“I think our home form this season has been really, really good. We’ve only lost twice – we deserved a draw against Fylde, and we lost three players in the first half against Banbury. We’ve played some really good football, and deserved to win games. We need to make sure we do things properly, do what we’ve been doing in our last few matches, and earn the right to play.”

Armstrong points out that the addition of new players has added extra qualities to the squad.

“We have some good characters in this group, they’re a totally different breed to last season," he said. "We’ve come back from one goal down a few times – like last week at Hereford – and got a result from the game. We wouldn’t have won a game like that at Hereford last season."

Top scorer Mark Beck will have a fitness test on an ankle injury, while defender David Wheater is still out with a knee injury. Defender Kallum Griffiths will be in the squad after coming through his comeback match unscathed.