Darlington Reserves head to Prudhoe in the Wearside League on Saturday.

The Reserves are currently fourth bottom of the table, with three win and three draws from the fourteen league games so far, but according to joint manager Mark Fanning, there are steady signs of improvement.

“The results have picked up over the last few weeks. There were some bad ones early on in the season, but recently we’ve won games by 6-1 and 6-3, and so we’re going to Prudhoe full of confidence. We’ve played most of the top teams, and now we want to start picking up points and improving our position.

“I thought we were a bit unlucky not to get a point at Boldon CA the other night. We seemed to struggle a little in the first half, but we shaded the second. Unfortunately, Boldon scored from a corner right near the end.”

Mark is encouraged by the response of the players to the news of the switch to Darlington. “None of the lads have said that they’re leaving the club, which is good to hear. In fact, we’ve heard of players who want to come and join us.

“We’ll be spending the next few weeks assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the players we’ve got.”

There are two former Darlington Under 18s in the squad for tomorrow – midfielder Nathan Stephenson who has appeared in the first team, and keeper Connor Pearce.

Prudhoe are two places and three points above Quakers in the table.

The Ressies’ first home game is on the 3G at Eastbourne next Saturday against Annfield Plain, kick off 2.30. If you’re not going to Heritage Park for the home game against Gainsborough, then why not pop along?