Source: Northern_Echo
Darlington boss must offload before strengthening
AFTER Darlington slipped to their latest defeat manager Steve Staunton declared his intention to bring in fresh blood in a bid to reinvigorate Quakers' disastrous season.[LNB] Saturday's FA Cup loss at Barnet was Quakers' 15th out of 19 matches in all competitions and the fourth that Staunton has suffered in his five-game tenure.[LNB] The Irishman's post-match thoughts at Underhill were focused mainly on Darlington's defence, which on Saturday conceded the first goal for the 19th time in as many matches this season.[LNB] But Staunton admits he is restricted due to several squad members having signed one-year contracts in the summer.[LNB] He said: They have to prove to me they are good enough.[LNB] We know what we have to do, our thoughts from day one haven't changed. But our hands are tied. We've got a lot of bodies in there but we have to get some people out first.[LNB] A lot of players in the squad, or back at the club, we have to get out. We haven't got an abundance of money so we have to get people out so we can get some fresh faces in.[LNB] The likes of David Knight, Rikki Bains, Paul Arnison and James Bennett were all handed one-year deals by previous manager Colin Todd.[LNB] But none are in Staunton's plans, with right-back Arnison the latest to be dropped.[LNB] On Saturday he was axed in favour of teenager Corey Barnes.[LNB] Lee Thorpe, Chris Lumsdon and Mark Bower also signed 12-month contracts but all are currently returning from injury.[LNB] The contacts are not a problem, we've got people ready to come in, added the manager.[LNB] We're very active in the market but we have to make room in the squad. We've got too many bodies at the moment before we can bring anyone in.[LNB] But we know who we want to bring in. We have targets and we know what positions have to change but we have to make room first.[LNB] Bains joined Blyth on loan last week and made his debut in a 1-1 draw at Solihull Motors on Saturday.[LNB] Like the first-team, Quakers' under-18s lost in the first round of the FA Youth Cup on Saturday, though it took Huddersfield Town until extra-time to defeat Darlington.[LNB] Huddersfield won 2-1 at The Northern Echo Arena, despite midfielder Dale Hobson giving Quakers a tenthminute lead.[LNB] Craig Liddle's side was again without defender Dan Burn, who was an unused sub for the first-team, just as he was seven days earlier at Hereford United.[LNB] Darlington (4-4-2): Thompson, Hewitson, Gray, Hobson, Hutchinson, Stephenson, Lomas (Baxter 90), Robinson, Collins (Marshall 101), McReady, Grainger (Ramshaw 69). Subs (not used): Bertram, Ferguson.[LNB]
