DARLINGTON return to action after a fortnight’s break when they head to Rushall Olympic looking for a first away league win of the season this afternoon.

Quakers have picked up three points from five away games this season, and manager Steve Watson knows they’ll have to be at their best to beat Rushall, who got through to the first round proper of the FA Cup in midweek by beating Peterborough Sports in a replay.

“It’ a difficult place to go to, as we found out last season,” he said. “We conceded some poor goals, three shots from distance. They’re buoyed up by their win in the FA Cup, they’ve got a new stand and it’s a small, tight pitch.

“We don’t take anybody lightly, it’s going to be a hell of a game. I’m confident, I don’t think we’re far off from being in a really good place. Hopefully, we’ve got bodies back, and that’s great for a manager. We’ve got better options this week.

“The King’s Lynn performance was probably our best performance of the season with the ball, but we didn’t really test their keeper enough. A couple of mistakes, which happen in football, put them to bed.”

Quakers had a Saturday off last week because their scheduled opponents, Peterborough Sports, were involved in the FA Cup against Rushall, and Watson said: “Hopefully, it’s given the lads who have been injured a bit of recovery time, as well as the lads who are carrying knocks.

"A couple of players will be back with us, but we’ll have to be really careful. We don’t want to push them in a game too early and have a recurrence. We put Cedric Main in for Marine and he missed three games, and we put Joe Leesley in earlier than we should have. Our hands were forced a little bit, but we’ve learned our lesson.

“We’re going into a spell now of eight games in four weeks, so it will be really good to get people back.”

Quakers are currently in 15th place in the table, while Rushall are fourth from bottom.

Watson will include attacking midfielder Caden Kelly, who has arrived on loan from Sunderland.

“I watched him a couple of times in pre-season, and we’ve been speaking to Sunderland about his availability," said the Quakers boss. "He’s a Will McGowan type of player who can also sit on the top line if we play three up top.

“He’s got that little bit of quality, and he can add to the quality that we’ve already got. hopefully, he’ll be as successful as our last loan from Sunderland – Matty Young.”

Midfielder Tom Platt and defender Ben Hedley are both out, while skipper Scott Barrow, Main, Cameron Salkeld and Leesley will all have fitness tests.

After today, Quakers are at Chorley on Tuesday and at home to Warrington next Saturday. They have rearranged their home game with Peterborough Sports for Tuesday, November 12, while they are waiting for confirmation that they’ll be playing Farsley on Saturday, November 2.