Darlington are hoping striker Cedric Main and defender Kallum Griffiths will both return for  Saturday's fixture with Spennymoor Town at Blackwell Meadows.

Main has been missing since he limped off with a hamstring strain which happened in the act of scoring at Oxford City a fortnight ago, while former Spennymoor defender Griffiths was injured at Buxton on Tuesday last week.

Both will be checked before the game, and their return would be a welcome boost to Darlington’s squad, which has been missing six players recently.

The Quakers will be looking to stretch their unbeaten run to three matches after beating Leamington 1-0 last Saturday and drawing 0-0 with Curzon Ashton on Monday.

Assistant manager Terry Mitchell said: “I’m sure the fans are really looking forward to the game, we as staff and the players certainly are.

“When you play a derby game, you want a top performance to come out on top at the end and gain bragging rights.

“We need everyone together, and we know without doubt, that our supporters will be fantastic and be right behind us. They’ll be the extra player to spur us on, and they’ll lift us if we have dips in the game.

“We had a massive bounce back last weekend from the Tuesday defeat at Buxton. We underperformed at Buxton, and got four points from two games last weekend, two positive results on the pitch. If we continue with that, then we’re in a great position.”

Both clubs played four games in the space of ten days recently, and Mitchell pointed out: “It’s a gruelling schedule in this league for every team. To play Saturday and Monday, none of the professional teams did.

“We’re non-league, not pro. We’d love to have more time with our lads, who had been to work as well. It was a massive effort on a depleted squad. When you get injuries, it’s an opportunity for the other players to step forward. Elliot Forbes has played in two positions for us, and Levi Andoh played his first 90 at Curzon Ashton Monday, and he hadn’t played for a year.”

Tom Platt, Joe Leesley and Archie Small are all out injured still, while loanee Oli Thompson is out for six weeks with a hamstring injury.

Spennymoor, meanwhile, go into the game without a point away from home having lost at Leamington and Rushall Olympic. They have won home games against Chester and Southport, and drawn on Monday against Brackley.

Manager Graeme Lee, a former Darlington player just like his assistant Ian Clark, was delighted with his side’s response in Monday against Brackley after the setback at Rushall, and he said: “The response from Saturday was very good, I was proud of the performance.

“If we perform like that every week, then we we’ll win more games than we’ll draw or lose.

“We can affect any team in this league if we’re at our game, we’ll cause anyone problems.”

Rob Ramshaw and Michael Ledger will both have fitness checks for Moors.