Source: Northern_Echo
Trophy win inspires Quakers
Darlington begin their second attempt at achieving a Football League return today and they are looking to last season for inspiration. Promotion would be preferable to another cup win, though manager Mark Cooper says that the FA Trophy victory can provide motivation for the months ahead. Monday will mark 100 days since the win at Wembley and Cooper believes the manner of that victory should spur the squad on. The campaign begins at home to Braintree Town who, on entering The Northern Echo Arena for what is their first game in the Conference, will be greeted by the sight of the gleaming Trophy. No visitor to the stadium can miss the impressive piece of silverware, which takes pride of place inside a cabinet in the club's main entrance. It was also present in the team photo on Thursday and, for Cooper, it acts as a reminder of what can be achieved. When his players returned for pre-season training on July 7, he addressed them at the Arena with the FA Trophy placed on a table in the centre of the room. The message was simple. "It was to reinforce belief and to show that this is what we've achieved, but it doesn't stop here, we've got to kick on now," said Cooper. "We've achieved something, now let's keep going and use the momentum for as long as we can and there's no reason why we can't go on and achieve more. "A lot of hard work, determination and spirit got us through to that final and at Wembley we were down to the bare bones. Our talisman centre-forward was playing at the back and through sheer desire we managed to dig out a win in the 120th minute. "The players that were here last season won that Trophy and with those that we've added to the squad I think we can be even better. "It was important that the club won something, after the season they had previously, to put the club back on the map. Hopefully it has given everyone that little bit of belief and enthusiasm that we can win something." Of the XI that started against Mansfield, it is likely only five will be selected today after a summer during which Cooper brought in eight players. Five are in line to make their debuts today: Ben Purkiss, Graeme Lee, Kris Taylor, Chris Atkinson and James Walshaw. Ryan Bowman and Scott Pocklington, a keeper signed from Newton Aycliffe yesterday, will be among the substitutes. Although Cooper has added talented players to his squad, there is not an abundance of bodies on the books and already Quakers are hit by injuries. Paul Arnison has only just returned from a thigh strain, Aaron Brown has the same injury, which he aggravated on Thursday, while Adam Rundle has an ankle problem. Furthermore, Michael Smith is unavailable as he is on trial with Watford. "We need to be lucky with injuries and we need to keep our key players fit for as much of the season as possible. What we've gone for is quality over quantity," said Cooper, who believes his budget is only around the tenth highest in the division. "If you look at some of the clubs in our league, they've got 23, 24 or 25-man squads. We can't compete financially with Luton, Fleetwood, Mansfield, York and Newport. "Like in any walk of life, you get what you pay for. Man City buy the best players, so that gives them a better chance of winning the Premier League, and it's the same in our division. "At the minute I've got 17 to choose from. But those that I am picking from have got a lot of ability. We've managed to recruit really good players. I'm not going to predict what we're going to do, but I know that we are better than we were last year. "And if we had started last season as we finished it then I think we probably would have got into the play-offs." Quakers follow today's game by visiting promotion favourites Fleetwood on Tuesday, though for now Cooper is focused on Braintree. They won the Conference South title last season, succeeding Newport County, who visited Darlington on the opening day of last season, when Quakers won 1-0. They are managed by former West Ham midfielder Alan Devonshire, and Cooper said: "I'm sure Alan would respect me saying that if we are going to get promoted then we have to beat the teams like Braintree. They've got some good players and it's the first game of the season, so everyone is full of energy and commitment, which means you never get an easy game on the first day. "It's always nice to start the season with a win. We did it last year and we'll be doing everything we can this week to make sure that we start the season really well."