DARLINGTON manager Alun Armstrong has warned that victory will not be a formality when bottom club Telford visit Blackwell Meadows today.

Quakers head into the game in third place in the table and need the three points to keep the pressure on top two Fylde and King’s Lynn.

After drawing 0-0 with Southport on Tuesday night, Darlington stayed third, while the Linnets defeated Bradford PA to go top, three points ahead of them. AFC Fylde are in second, a point ahead of Quakers.

Telford, meanwhile, have considerably improved since Armstrong took his side to the Buck’s Head in November and won 4-1. Jack Lambert scored a hat-trick in that game and midfielder Alex Purver chipped in with the other.

Telford's manager, Kevin Wilkin, who was appointed just before that game, has slowly turned things around, and has started to make his side difficult to beat, just as he did with his previous club Brackley. They still have a mountain to climb though, as they are 11 points adrift of safety.

“This will be a tough game, because they’ve totally changed the players that they had from the first time we played them,” said Armstrong.

“They’ve drawn a lot of their games recently. I spoke to the Southport manager after Tuesday’s game, and he said that Telford aren’t what they used to be.

"They’re a lot tougher and a lot harder to play against, and have got some decent players in on loan, and they’ve got a big squad now.

“Telford’s manager, Kevin Wilkin, has slowly put his mark on them. This won’t be easy, so we need to be at our best.

"I hope there’s no wind like there was on Tuesday so we can play a decent game of football.”

Quakers kept their first clean sheet in eight matches against Southport in midweek, which Armstrong said was a big boost.

“The most pleasing thing was that we defended ever so well and kept a clean sheet," he said. "But at the other end, there was a little bit of a lack of quality. Maybe there were times when we were waiting for things to happen, instead of making them happen.

“If we can’t find that quality to win the game, then we must make sure that we don’t lose the game by conceding. I’m sick of conceding goals through sloppy mistakes.

“We were disappointed with just a point the other night, but not disheartened. We still picked up four points from two games, if we keep doing that, then we’ll be there or thereabouts.

“We need to make sure that we get the three points this weekend.”

On loan left-back Nathan Newall, who has joined Darlington from Sunderland, made his full debut on Tuesday after a brief sub appearance against Spennymoor, and Armstrong said: “I was really impressed with him on Tuesday.

“What I liked about him was that he was getting wide, he was strong and getting stuck in.

"He knows this level after playing in it for Guiseley, he was quality when he was in possession of the ball and he rarely gave it away.”

Newall could start the game again today at left back, with Ben Hedley playing at right-back.

Midfielder Alex Purver was hit by the ball in the face the other night and went off as a precaution, but he’s expected to have recovered in time to line up against Telford.