Darlington's Tommy Taylor has called on his team to hit the ground running as the season starts at Cambridge this afternoon.

Quakers have enjoyed a successful pre-season, completing a satisfactory sequence of results with a 6-0 win over Northern League Guisborough Town last Monday.

That came five days after putting five past Whitby Town - having beaten Halifax, Durham, Rochdale and Newcastle's reserves earlier in the summer. And these scorelines suggest Quakers are in the right frame of mind for a stab at promotion.

And optimistic Quakers chief, Taylor, says beginning the season on a winning note is vital if a play-off charge is to be made.

Taylor, who today takes Darlington to the club where he first started his managerial career, said: "You need to get a few wins under your belt quickly otherwise, if you lose three or four early on, you're already playing catch-up. I remember Brighton had about 50 points on the board by Christmas. Once you get into a good position with your points it's a lot easier because there's not as much pressure.

"You've done the hard work and then everything from then on is downhill. You should be aiming for an average of two points per game which means getting at least a draw in every away game.

"We're looking forward to the season and we're looking forward to Saturday. Cambridge will be a test, but no game is easy anyway, then we've got two home games very quickly."

Beginning in April 1995, Taylor spent 18 months at the Abbey Stadium. He took a youthful side to second position in the Third Division by November before leaving for Leyton Orient. That remains a feat which still gives him immense pride.

"I really enjoyed it down there," says Taylor. "I left them when they were second in the League with a team of mostly under-19s and about ten points clear of third place.

"We were really going well and we would have won it with that team. There were some good, young players in that team. Jody Craddock went to Sunderland, Trevor Benjamin went to Leicester, Danny Granville went to Chelsea and Micah Hyde went to Watford."

As Darlington chief he was on the receiving end of some severe East London stick when he took Quakers to Orient in February but he is expecting a more muted response today.

He said: "At Orient the fans wanted to win the League Cup, the FA Cup and the European Cup but they were never going to win them because they were in the Third Division.

"I won't get anymore satisfaction from winning at a former club, all I'm worried about is getting three points. Darlington is my team now and that is that."

Cambridge will be without former Darlington loanee Dan Chillingworth, who caught the eye as a pacy striker while with Quakers midway through last season.

"Dan is very, very mobile and he always looks likely to score a goal so I'm quite pleased he's not playing," admitted Taylor.

Also absent today will be Darlington's suspended midfielder Mark Ford. He's missing from Quakers' engine room with a four match ban picked up for being sent-off in the final game of last season.

"Fordy is the only one out of team who I would like in the team," admitted Taylor who is also without Gary Pearson who had an operation on his troublesome neck injury this week which will sideline him for six months.

Mark Kilty and Australian youngster, Russell Waller, may not kick a ball this season as they have cruciate knee ligament damage, while Brian Atkinson is also injured.

If nothing else, the injuries have helped Taylor pick his first line-up of the season which has been a long time in coming after a four month break.

Taylor said: "I know the team, but I haven't told the players yet. I think they probably know what it is though after the way we've been doing things in training.

"It's been a long pre-season because last season finished early - time to take the gloves off!

Read more about the Quakers here.