Darlington have today signed former Aston Villa midfielder Hayden Lindley.

Hayden, who is 21, started his career in the academy at Manchester City and joined Aston Villa in July 2019.

He was a regular in Villa’s Under 18 and Under 21 sides, helping Villa win the FA Youth Cup in 2021, and he also made his senior debut in the third round of the FA Cup against Liverpool in January 2021.

He signed a new contract at Villa in July 2021 and played for the first team at Barrow in the EFL Cup a month later.

Villa loaned him to Newport County for four months in 2022 and he made six appearances for them before returning to Villa for the rest of the 2022-23 campaign.

He was freed in the summer and after going on trial to Cheltenham and Altrincham, signed for Golcar United in the Northern Counties East League on a non-contract basis. He has now agreed to join Quakers for the rest of the season.

Hayden goes into the squad for tonight's home game with Blyth.

We'd like to wish him all the best during his stay with us.

We'd like to thank Golcar United and Altrincham for their help with the signing.