STEVE WATSON has told his Darlington players to be full of confidence for this afternoon's away game against Farsley.
Quakers head to Silverlands in Buxton – 70 miles from Farsley – looking for their first away league win of the season against a club that is in some disarray, but who are still two places above Darlington in the table.
“We produced some really good football last Saturday,” said Watson. “Earlier in the season we were defensively strong and our shape was so good, but that was what let us down in the second half against Warrington.
“In training on Tuesday, we got a few things out in the open and we had a good chat. I spoke to a few individuals and we had a good session. We’ve got to go out and be full of confidence.”
Farsley have had a troubled season. They discovered methane issues when they ripped up their old grass pitch in order to lay a new 3G surface, and so they have been reversing home fixtures to their opponents’ grounds, or playing their three home games so far at Bradford Park Avenue and Alfreton.
The league instructed them a fortnight ago to agree a groundshare instead of hopping from club to club, and earlier in the week they signed an agreement with Buxton, 70 miles away.
The uncertainty of where they’re playing their games, and players not getting paid on time, seems to have had an effect on results as they lost 6-0 at Scunthorpe in midweek.
“We’re approaching the game in the usual way,” said Watson. “We don’t care whether we’re at home or away.
“I don’t think we’re far away, it’s just getting everything together. We’ve really improved on creating chances – we scored twice last Saturday – but we still left a lot out there. If we can get it all going in the right direction, then great.
“Some teams might get six chances in a game, and might put four away, that’s the sort of ratio that we need to look at. We’ve been going through repetition, repetition, repetition in training, not just the forwards but all the players in the team.
“We’re not exactly where we want to be in the table, we’ve left some points out there this season, but comparatively at the same stage last season, we’re seven or eight points better off than last season. I know though, that’s not a benchmark.
“The players don’t need to be too down about it, we’re within striking distance of where we want to be.”
Midfielder Will Hatfield, who missed last week’s draw with Warrington because of a hamstring injury, has trained this week, while midfielder Tom Platt and defender Ben Hedley are both well on the road to recovery.
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