Darlington will be stepping up their pre season training this weekend.

After winning two friendlies in the last week at Buxton and Harrogate RA, manager Martin Gray will be putting the squad through their paces in a day of physical activity on Saturday.

The players will be attending an all day lung-busting session, and MG said; “The players are going to be pushed to the limits this weekend. The first week of pre-season has mainly been for bedding them in and introductions to each other, but now we’re really going to step it up. We’ve got various things planned, that will also help with team bonding.

“The players need to achieve a higher level of fitness than last season, especially to prepare them for a hectic start to the season.”

MG is happy with the first two matches on their travels. “For some lads like Nathan Cartman, Tom Portas and Terry Galbraith it was their first run out at Harrogate on Tuesday, so it was important that they got some minutes on the field and improved their fitness levels.”

On the injury front, Gary Brown should be ok to participate after recovering from a facial injury at Buxton.

MG could also bring in some more triallists for Quakers’ next friendly at Billingham Synthonia next Tuesday.