DARLINGTON are hoping the arrival of attacking midfielder Will McGowan on loan will improve their chances of stretching their unbeaten run to seven matches at home to Southport this afternoon.

McGowan, who has signed from Gateshead until January 5, is likely to start today as Quakers look to improve their fortunes in the final third of the field.

They’ve kept five clean sheets in the last six matches - only West Didsbury and Chorlton have scored against them in the FA Cup - but they need to create and score more at the other end, which is where the experienced McGowan comes into the equation.

“I’m delighted that he’s over the line,” said Watson. "I’ve been trying to get him since last summer. He chose Gateshead instead of us because he wanted to test himself as high up as he could.

"Gateshead are a great club, they’ve loaned him to us because they trust us, and know that we will look after him.

“We’ll give him minutes because he’s the kind of player that we’ve been looking for. He’s got plenty of experience in this league, he’s been at Blyth and South Shields before that.

"He’s still a big part of Gateshead’s plans, which is why I’m delighted they’re trusting us with him. Hopefully, he will get games in, so he can help us, and we’ll help him.

“It would be great to stretch our unbeaten run to seven matches. We’ve had a really steady run without being spectacular. As I’ve said a number of times, we need to lift it at the top end of the pitch with the quantity and creation of chances and finishing off the chances we create. We’ve gone a long way over the last couple of weeks to putting that right.”

Today's opponents are separated by just two positions in the table – Quakers are 16th, with Southport a point above them.

“They will give us a very competitive game," added Watson. "I get on great with their manager Jim Bentley. All his teams are competitive and really tough to play against. They play a system that we don’t come up against very often, so we’ve looked at ways to combat and exploit it.”

Watson’s team selection will be a little easier this week because at least two players will return after missing last week’s FA Cup win at West Didsbury and Chorlton.

Jack Maskell missed the game because of a virus, but has now recovered and scored a hat-trick in a midweek training game, and midfielder Will Flint comes back in after being cup-tied last week.

Midfielder Will Hatfield is hoping to have recovered from a slight hamstring injury, while defender Elliot Forbes could also return after injury. However, defender Kallum Griffiths is missing with a back injury.