Source: SKY_Sports
Singh eyes end to Darlo saga
Prospective new Darlington chairman Raj Singh remains hopeful the League Two club will emerge from administration before the start of the season.
Singh has put pen to paper on a deal with former chairman George Houghton, a move he regards as 'the biggest hurdle' in securing control at the Darlington Arena.
The Quakers' supremo-elect is confident the Football League will ratify his takeover and not impose any further points penalty, but admits exiting administration is a testing process.
And he admitted that manager Colin Todd and his players are still to be paid, with the new summer signings only able to agree terms verbally with the club.
"This is the biggest hurdle as far as the takeover is concerned," Singh told the club's official website. "A lot of things are starting to come together, which is very encouraging for us and our fans.
Complex"Mr Houghton and I have now signed a deal for the takeover of the club, which includes separate deals on the stadium and the land, but it means I can already start to put a lot of things in place.
"We have two major hurdles to overcome now - one is with the league, but they're formalities as far as we're concerned, and the second is actually coming out of administration, which is a very complex process.
"We're working very hard with the administrators behind the scenes to get things done as soon as possible, and our target is to come out of administration before the start of the new season, at the very latest, so we can kick off the 2009-10 campaign knowing we're starting with a blank canvas.
"We're still not in a position to pay players or the management, but the manager has made verbal agreements with them and they're happy with that.
"It's just a case of preparing for the season as a club normally would, making sure the players are fit and ready, so once the season starts we'll be starting afresh on the field as well as off it."
Boro game off
Meanwhile, Darlo have been forced to cancel Wednesday's friendly against North East neighbours Middlesbrough due to a series of injury problems.
Todd's limited squad was badly hit with seven players struggling for fitness and the manager was left with no option but to call the game off.
"It's very unfortunate that we've had to do this," he told the Northern Echo. "It is very disappointing.
"From the club's point of view, this game was a valuable fixture, and it was an attractive match for our fans as well.
"But you can't play a game of football without players."
