Friday Apr 04 2008 11:40
Darlington manager Dave Penney is licking his lips at the prospect of Saturday's clash with promotion rivals Stockport County.
Fifth-placed County are currently five points behind the Quakers but have two games in hand, while Darlo also have a long list of injuries which will be weighing heavily on Penney's mind.
Form is also a massive concern for the Quakers boss as Darlington have only taken three points once in their last seven games. In comparison, Jim Gannon's men are flying, having only lost three of their last 23 league outings.
With a home clash with Hereford United looming next weekend, Penney is enjoying the scrap for automatic promotion and play-off places.
Penney told the Darlington and Stockton Times: "Stockport are a good side, even though we beat them 4-0 earlier in the season, and they're on a great run at the moment so it's going to be tough.
"They're right behind us so they want the points just as much as us because they want to catch up.
"You want to go into games at this time of the season with something riding on them and that's certainly the case this Saturday and the Saturday after."
Darlington will not only face a tricky battle on the pitch, but also with the pitch itself, as the Edgeley Park playing surface also stages Sale Shark's home matches, including one less then 24 hours before kick-off on Saturday.
Penney added: "I don't think the pitch is going to be very clever, especially as they're playing a rugby match there on Friday.
"It's not a good pitch anyway, so it's a going to be a battle."
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