Preview and stats pack for Saturday’s away game v Tamworth

(We will post updates on whether the game is going ahead when we get them from Tamworth. Obviously the game is in the hands of the weather, as are the transport networks)

Darlington manager Tommy Wright says that Quakers have come a long way since they last played Tamworth in the Vanarama National League.

Quakers lost 1-0 to the Staffordshire side in the league back in November in one of Tommy’s early games in charge after he took over from Martin Gray, but he says that Quakers have greatly improved since then.

“We’ve changed for the better since we last played them,” he said. “I think we’ve come a long way since we lost to them.

“We’re having a good run at the moment with four wins out of the last five matches, but that doesn’t mean to say that we’ll be taking Tamworth lightly.”

Three former Tamworth players will be returning to one of their previous clubs – Reece Styche, Greg Mills and Josh Heaton – and Tommy said; “I’m sure this is a game that Reece in particular will be looking forward to after his time here.

“He was quite happy at Tamworth and said that he would only leave to join me again, which he did when I went to Darlington.

“I’m sure Reece will be going to Tamworth with the aim of showing Tamworth what they’ve missed and looking to get back on the scoring trail.

“I brought Greg to Nuneaton when he was at Tamworth and didn’t seem to be having the best of times.

“Josh is getting better and better all the time for us, but we need to keep his feet firmly on the floor and keep him focused.

“Alan and I spoke to him before the Kidderminster game, and we told him not to change his game or his standards. I’m sure everyone was delighted with his performance.”

Tommy has more players at his disposal this week, with defender Ben O’Hanlon and midfielder James Caton back in the squad after recovering from injury.

Kick off on Saturday is 3:00pm, updates on the game will be made from the club’s Facebook, Twitter and Website. Live Commentary will be broadcast from Darlo Fans Radio at 2:50pm.

Statistics:

Quakers last five matches:

24^th February Kidderminster (home) won 2-1 Heaton, Thompson

Pears, Trotman, Heaton, Vaulks, Galbraith, Turnbull, Wheatley (sub Scott 69), Saunders (sub Gillies 69), Syers, Thompson, Styche

Subs:  Bancroft, Glover, Mills

17^th February Brackley (away) lost 0-3

Pears, Trotman, Heaton, Galbraith, O'Hanlon, Turnbull, Wheatley (sub Glover 78), Gillies, Syers, Mills, Saunders

Subs: Scott, Bancroft, G Brown, Milburn

10^th February Bradford PA (away) won 1-0 Syers

Darlington: Pears, Trotman, O’Hanlon, Turnbull, Heaton, Galbraith, Gillies (sub Brown 84), Wheatley, Styche (sub Mills 89) , Syers, Thompson

Subs: Scott, Bancroft, Saunders

3^rd February Blyth (home) won 3-0 Thompson pen, Styche, Syers

Pears, Trotman, O'Hanlon, Turnbull, Heaton, Galbraith, Caton (sub Gillies 78), Wheatley, Styche (sub Saunders 82), Syers, Thompson (sub Scott 88)

Subs: Bancroft, Brown

27^th January Leamington (away) won 3-2 Thompson 3

Pears, Brown (sub Syers 24), Heaton, Galbraith, O’Hanlon, Trotman, Wheatley, Scott (sub Turnbull 62), Thompson, Styche, Mills (sub Caton 62)

Subs not used, Bancroft, Gillies

Leading scorer:  Reece Styche  9 (inc 2 in Trophy) Stephen Thompson 8

Team news:  Dominic Collins has stepped up his recovery from injury, and will take part in the warm up on Saturday

James Caton and Ben O’Hanlon have both declared themselves fit.

Gary Brown, Tom Portas and Chris Hunter are all out injured

Current league position: 14^th (five points above relegation zone)

Position in form table of last six games:  6^th (Southport top)

Away form:  played 16, won 3, drawn 5, lost 8, goals for 16, goals against 29

Best away winning margin 2-0 at Salford 5^th August

Tamworth

Last five matches:

24^th February Salford (away) postponed

17^th February AFC Telford United (home) drew 2-2 Asante, Verma

Stevens, Stabana, Sharpe, Thomas (Shaw 54), Jones, Kettle, Taylor (Powell 71), Verma, Asante, Reid (Gray 54), Knights

Subs: Coulson, Kotwica

13^th February Blyth (home) lost 0-3

Stevens, Burns, Sharpe, Kettle, Jones (c.), Shaw, Powell (Reid 59), Thomas (Kotwica 63), Asante, Verma, Knights

Subs: Taylor, Stabana, Coulson

10^th February Alfreton (away) lost 1-2 Knights

Stevens, Burns, Sharpe (Reid 89), Kettle, Jones (c.), Coulson (Stabana HT), Taylor, Verma, Asatne, Shaw, Knights (Powell 79)

Subs: Lane, Kotwica

3^rd February York City (home) drew 1-1 Knights

Stevens, Burns (Kotwica 85), Sharpe, Shaw T., Jones (c.), Kettle, Powell (Turner 79), Verma, Reid (Taylor 90), Coulson, Knights

Subs: Lane, Davies

27^th January Tamworth (away) lost 0-1

Stevens, Burns, Lane, Shaw T., Jones (c.), Kettle, Powell (Reid HT), Verma, Taylor, Turner (Knights HT), Kotwica (Coulson 75)

Subs: Hayden, Shaw C

Last win v Nuneaton 2-0 on New Year’s Day

League position: 19th

Position in form table of last six games:  22^nd

Home form:  Played 16, won 6, drawn 4, lost 6 goals for 27, goals against 26

Best home win: 4-1 v Curzon Ashton 19^th August

Connections:

Tamworth will include Aman Verma, who was part of the Darlington team that won the FA trophy in 2011. We beat Tamworth early in that run.

Darlington include former Tamworth players Greg Mills,  Josh Heaton and Reece Styche in their squad. Styche scored ten league goals for Tamworth before his move to Darlington

Former Darlington manager Mark Cooper was a player and a manager of Tamworth

Meetings in last two seasons:

Last season:

Tamworth 2 Darlington 1 (Galbraith pen), Darlington 3 (Galbraith, Thompson, Cartman) Tamworth 2

November 18^th

Darlington 0 Tamworth 1

Darlington: Wilczynski, Trotman, Galbraith, Wheatley, Collins, Brown, Mills, Syers, Caton, Gillies (sub Saunders 78), Thompson

Subs not used: Scott, Bancroft, Portas, Heaton

Tamworth Rowley, Burns, Morley, Deeney, Jones (c.), Lane, Upton, Fox, Reid (Taylor 69), Verma, Knights (Powell 81)

Subs: Coulson, Shaw, Hayden

Saturday’s games:

Vanarama National League North

Alfreton v AFC Telford United, Blyth Spartans v Southport, Boston United v Harrogate Town, Brackley v Bradford PA, Chorley v Stockport County, Curzon Ashton v Nuneaton, FC United of Manchester v Gainsborough Trinity, Kidderminster v York City, North Ferriby v Salford City, Spennymoor Town v Leamington, Tamworth v Darlington