The French connection is set to end at Darlington as Lehit Zeghdeane is to return to France.

Zeghdeane - or Zezu as he was nicknamed - started one game for Quakers and was substitute in four, but was unable to establish himself in the first team, after scoring several goals for the reserves.

It was clear from his performance against Barnet three weeks ago that the striker was struggling to come to terms with the pace of English football.

Darlington manager Gary Bennett said: "We're in the process of sending him back to France.

"Over the six weeks he's been at the club, he hasn't progressed as much as we were expecting. He's on a three-month contract, but we're trying to come to an agreement to cut it all short."

Zeghdeane follows his countrymen, Christophe Raymond and Paul Drame, out of the door as they also failed to impress while on trial.

Bennett will now look elsewhere and is likely to watch a couple of targets in action this week.

"I'm still looking hard for a striker," he said. "But it is a matter of finding the right man to get the ball in the back of the net."

Bennett was hopeful of bringing Jamie Coppinger back to Feethams, but that deal is now dead.

The Newcastle striker, who had a loan spell at Hartlepool last season, wants to play at a higher level.

"I had a word with his agent, and he's told me that Jamie feels he can play at a higher level if he's going to be loaned out from Newcastle, so he doesn't want to play in the Third Division again.

"We thought that he might have jumped at the chance to play first team football again."

Quakers' reserves won 3-1 at Stoke City yesterday. Danish striker Jesper Hjorth, Paul Beavers and Craig Skelton scored the goals.

l Sheffield Wednesday chairman Howard Culley will come under intense pressure to resign tonight for the salvation of the club.

The heat will be on Culley and fellow director Bob Grierson at the AGM just months after surviving a vote of 'no confidence' in their leadership at an EGM in the summer.

But the Owls are currently in the grip of a crippling financial crisis, to such an extent boss Paul Jewell has been forced to let 11 players leave since his arrival from Bradford in the summer to help ease the burden on a staggering wage bill and debts of £12m.

The club are in desperate need of a sugar daddy-type figure who will not only pump money in to reduce those debts but also have enough left to bolster the threadbare squad.

The Shareholders' Association, however, believe no-one will come in while Culley and Grierson are on the board, and so are demanding ''a change of blood at the highest level'' given Wednesday's current anaemic state.

l Darlington FC: www.thisisthenortheast.co.uk/sport/football/darlington