Cooper gives Darlington a break

Darlington players return to training tomorrow as manager Mark Cooper has given them a break ahead of the final league match of the season. Quakers close the curtain on their Blue Square Bet Premier campaign on Saturday at home to Rushden & Diamonds, a match that brings to an end what has been a demanding schedule. Due to a series of postponements earlier in the season, Darlington have been playing catch-up with their fixtures which has meant playing two games a week since md-March. That run, coupled with the FA Trophy final against Mansfield Town taking place a week on Saturday, led to Cooper making nine changes for Monday's game at Southport. Regulars such as Sam Russell, Paul Arnison, Liam Hatch, Marc Bridge-Wilkinson, Ian Miller and Aaron Brown were all rested and in their absence Quakers were held to a 1-1 draw. Risking not winning at a relegation-threatened side was worth it, though, said Cooper who is keen to protect his players from injury. Aware that Mansfield striker Paul Connor tore a calf muscle last week, Cooper said: "I wouldn't have been doing my job properly had I played the likes of Bridge-Wilkinson, Miller and Brown. "You've seen what has happened to Paul Connor, so I don't think anyone is going to hold it [nine changes] against me. "We needed to rest some players. Ian Miller had not had a break when a lot of the others had so we drastically changed the team. He needs a rest because he was knackered. "There was no way we could have played him on Saturday and Monday, then again this Saturday and expected him to be at full throttle for Wembley. "Arnison needed a bit of a rest too because he's played a lot of games. "I have no regrets about changing the team because the biggest thing for us now is Wembley and that's why we made the changes. "It was a case of picking whoever was fit, but hadn't been featuring. "Our main aim is winning the Trophy at Wembley. We knew that getting into the play-offs was unlikely, but we still wanted to get a result at Southport because we want to finish as high as we can." Southport moved up one place to fifth bottom thanks to the point and Cooper added: "They needed a win but they got a good point which has set them up for the weekend, but what pleased me was that they we came through the game without any more injuries. "The players are going to have a couple of days off now, they are back on Thursday before the Rushden game and then a clear week leading up to Wembley. "I'm looking forward to the last league game. It would be nice to get a win to set us up for the final." Darlington are continuing to sell tickets for the final at a steady pace and by 6pm yesterday had sold 7,123. Mansfield's latest figure is 11,116. n Supporters are reminded that Darlington's match on Saturday kicks-off at 5.15pm. All games in the Blue Square Bet Premier kick-off at the unusual time due to the Tamworth versus Forest Green game being televised on Premier Sports.

Source: Northern_Echo