DARLINGTON are looking for their first win of the season when they go to Buxton tonight – and a much better result than their last visit.
Quakers went to Silverlands last season near the end of August and lost 5-0 in one of the final games of Alun Armstrong tenure, with the former boss unable to attend for family reasons.
Darlington skipper Will Hatfield was part of the team that day soon after rejoining the club from Fylde, and he said: “Hopefully we can put that right, the team that lost last season knows that that performance wasn’t acceptable. We’ve got new players and staff from that day, and we’re really looking forward to putting that right.”
Darlington are looking to build on their 2-2 draw with Oxford City, a game that could have gone either way with both sides hitting the crossbar in stoppage time.
Hatfield said: “It was a crazy game and credit to both teams. Nobody left anything on the pitch, they gave so much effort. The game could have gone either way.
“We had a lot of chances at 2-1 to make the game safe, and we could have gone 3-1 or 4-1 up. We’re sure those chances will go in next time. It’s still very early days, we’ve played two strong teams who were relegated last season.”
Hatfield paid credit to his midfield partner Will Flint, who hit the bar late in the game on his debut.
He said: “I think he did really well. He came in full of energy and was good with the ball technically. He gives us something different, ad was really unlucky with the effort that came back off the bar.”
Striker Cedric Main, who scored the second goal on Saturday, will be missing tonight because of a hamstring injury.
Quakers have played both relegated clubs in their first two matches, narrowly losing 2-1 to Kidderminster and then drawing 2-2 with Oxford City.
This is Buxton’s third straight home game. They beat Leamington on the opening day, and then Farsley at Silverlands on Saturday in a game that was reversed from Farsley, who are installing a 4G pitch.
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