DARLINGTON are looking for three big points when they kick-off a crucial series of games at Banbury tomorrow afternoon.

Quakers begin a potentially season-defining run of six games tomorrow, of which the first three are against Banbury, who are 19th in the National League North table, Gloucester, who are 23rd, and 24th-placed Bishop’s Stortford, who face Quakers on December 23.

The Christmas period brings a holiday double-header against Scarborough Athletic, before Darlington face 21st-placed King's Lynn on January 6.

Assuming Banbury’s pitch survives the bad weather, Quakers will be looking for their third away league win of the season tomorrow after previous successes at Alfreton and Farsley.

“We’re champing at the bit to play," said Darlington boss Josh Gowling. "With Southport being off last Saturday, it’s good that we could get some extra training days in, and now we want to put on some good performances.

"Middlesbrough have been fantastic in allowing us to use their facilities and we’ve been able to enjoy some valuable training time.

“Our recent results haven’t reflected our performances. It’s important now that we pick up some points in this run. Our mentality is different these days, no matter who we’re going to play, whether it’s a team near the bottom or a team that’s higher. We’ve got a positivity about us now which is really pleasing to see.

“Extra training days get us together, and are great for team morale and team spirit. It was good to keep that focus, because sometimes teams have a Saturday off and lose it. Those training days were really important, because they gave us time to imprint our philosophies on the squad. You can see that things are starting to click, which is good to see.”

This will be Quakers’ second attempt to play at the Community Stadium this season, as their previous attempt in October was postponed because of a waterlogged pitch. They also went down to Oxfordshire twice last season, after their first attempt was postponed because of a frozen pitch. They drew there last season when the game was eventually played.

Banbury’s home record is worse than their away record – they’ve won only twice at home this season – and Gowling said; “Banbury have fallen off of late, so we must put some pressure on them, get their fans to turn against them and really put them on the back foot.

“We could do with scoring more goals – we could have scored a hatful in the last two home games instead of drawing 1-1.

“We’re getting into positions for chances but we’re not putting them away. It’s something we need to work on, but it’s good that we’re getting into those positions. Teams that are down there sometimes don’t get into those positions, and they concede goals.

“Overall, I think our performances are coming together now, but we must continue to work hard.

Quakers will still be without striker Andrew Nelson tomorrow because of suspension, and defenders Jordan Windass and Jake Lawlor, together with striker Mitch Curry, are all ruled out because of injury.

However, they will probably include new signing Sonil Vasileiou, who was playing at Dereham earlier this season, in their squad.

Meanwhile, Quakers have re-arranged their game at Southport, which was postponed last Saturday because of a frozen pitch, for Tuesday, January 9 (7.45pm).

They have also secured a new away shirt sponsor in The Unknown Creative, who took over from Nuleaf following their receivership.