Source: Northern_Echo
Quakers wait on MBW
Darlington are preparing for this evening's game at home to Histon with Marc Bridge-Wilkinson mulling over an offer that would make him one of their highest paid players.[LNB] The 18-month deal on offer illustrates how determined Darlington are to land the 31- year-old whose three-month loan from Carlisle United expired after Saturday's draw with AFC Wimbledon.[LNB] The League One club are prepared to release Bridge- Wilkinson this month, a process that involves agreeing a settlement, but Quakers chairman Raj Singh is hopeful the player's next destination will be The Northern Echo Arena.[LNB] We've been desperately trying to persuade Marc Bridge-Wilkinson to stay,[LNB] said the chairman, speaking in the club's programme for this evening's match.[LNB] Marc's an intelligent lad and he wanted reassurances about how stable the football club and how ambitious we are about strengthening the squad and getting out of this league.[LNB] Having left the meeting, we felt confident that we'd done enough to convince him to sign for us.[LNB] He even indicated that he wanted to sign for us and that he wouldn't consider dropping two divisions for any other club, which says a lot about us and how much he's enjoyed his time with us.[LNB] One stumbling block could be Marc's settlement from Carlisle, and unfortunately our hands are tied with that situation. But if that gets resolved, Marc left me with the impression after our meeting that he'll definitely be joining us.[LNB] Singh has been keen to stress that he will not jeopardise the future of the club, saying: We're not dishing out silly deals.[LNB] All our new signings, including Liam Hatch, have agreed performance-related deals.[LNB] In Marc's case, and providing he accepts, he'd be one of the highest-paid players at the club, with bonuses and add-ons on top of that, so the better he performs, the more he'll get out of it.[LNB] If Bridge-Wilkinson does not sign today, manager Mark Cooper could hand a recall to Chris Moore, a move which would involve tinkering with the diamond' formation which has been favoured recently.[LNB] Darlington, currently 12th, hope to move up the table with a win against bottom-ofthe- table Histon, but the fixture could be the first at the Arena to feature no visiting supporters.[LNB] Histon, situated just north of Cambridge, attract an average of 598 to home games and earlier this season took no fans at all to their match at Wrexham.[LNB]
