Former Darlington player Lee Nogan says that his old club will do well in the Vanarama National League North in the new season.

The former Welsh international played for Quakers in the 1999-2000 season, and was part of the team that lost in the League Two play off final to Peterborough at Wembley.

Lee is now the assistant manager at Gateshead alongside his former Darlington team mate, Neil Aspin, and was in the dugout for the match against his old club on Friday night.

“We watched Darlington in action when they beat Sunderland on Tuesday night, and we could tell that they are a very good team, with good shape and work very hard for each other.

“Based on the Sunderland performance, and the one against us on Friday night, there’s no reason why they can’t continue that improvement this season. Martin has done a fantastic job in the last four years, and I’m sure he’ll continue to do so because he’s very competitive and knowledgable.”

Lee was assistant manager at Halifax for their rise through the Conference North (as it was then) to the Conference Premier, and he said; “It’s a very tough league that Darlington are going into, it took us two seasons to get out of it. We lost in the play off semi final in the first season, and then we won them in the second.

“There are some very good teams in there this season, such as Kidderminster, Halifax, Boston and FC United, so it will be a tough old league. So if Darlington finish in or around the play offs, then it will be a great season.”