Darlington have released reserve striker Craig Skelton as they prepare for Saturday's home game with Mansfield.

Skelton, 20, was on a month-to-month contract at the club, and after manager Gary Bennett handed him a free transfer, the front man signed for UniBond League Whitby Town.

His release will come as a surprise to some fans, who have been impressed by his performances in the reserves over the last three seasons and thought that he had potential.

However, he has made just one substitute appearance in the league, in the 2-0 defeat at Cardiff last month

Only 18 months ago there was a possibility that Skelton, with teenage team-mate Graham Liddle, was going to Celtic, when Kenny Dalglish was in charge, but the move fell through.

He was injured at the start of last season and was on loan to Altrincham at the end of the campaign.

"We thought it was fair to the player, because he can't keep going on a monthly contract," said Bennett.

"He has a chance to play regularly now for Whitby in the UniBond League and we'll try to help him as much as possible."

Skelton was expected to play for Whitby last night in their league cup tie at Bishop Auckland.

Bennett, meanwhile, has started his search for another striker after being rejected by Worksop's Kirk Jackson.

"I've started looking around again and there are one or two possibilities, but there's no chance of anybody new for Saturday," he said.

However, he is hoping that Adam Marsh can adapt to the Football League. "It's a big step up for the lad," said Bennett. "We'll have to see how he handles it. He needs to work on his match fitness, because obviously he's not used to playing games at reserve and Football League levels week after week."

Defender Gary Himsworth is a slight doubt for the Mansfield game because of a shoulder injury, while Richard Hodgson is expected to have recovered from a groin strain.

Bennett and public relations director Luke Raine will attend the supporters club AGM tonight in Strikers, beginning at 7.30.

l Ipswich cannot shake the habit at the moment and George Burley is delighted about it.

The winning habit that is; no matter who he fields, in what formation or at which venue, the end result has generally been the same. Victory.

A rugged 2-1 win at Portman Road over Coventry earned a Worthington Cup quarter-final date with either Manchester City or Wimbledon and the Blues' whirlwind start to the Premiership has seen them reach the dizzy heights of third.

''Over the last few years we have got into the bad habit of winning games,'' joked Burley, of a club who had become the bridesmaids of Division One before they ended their six-year top-flight absence with a Wembley play-off win in May.

Their shock form in the Premiership continues but if sceptics are searching for cracks in their armoury, they may like to take a peak at a growing injury list for ammunition. Goalkeeper Richard Wright had played over 200 consecutive games before missing the fourth-round tie with a cracked bone in his wrist and John McGreal, Mark Venus and Jim Magilton have all been sidelined in the last week.