l DARLINGTON yesterday completed the signing of French pair Lenit Zezu and Christophe Raymond today.

The Gallic duo have been on trial at Feethams for the past three weeks, during which time they have given impressive displays for the reserves.

Striker Zezu looks an exciting prospect and has scored in every game he's played so far, while defender Raymond has been comfortable at the back.

Manager Gary Bennett said: "We are giving Lenit a three-month contract and Christophe one month.

"Both of them will play for the reserves on Wednesday, and if they come through that, then they will join the first-team squad for the home game against York next Saturday."

Meanwhile, new keeper Frank Van Der Geest believes English fans are much noisier than those from Holland.

Van Der Geest, who has signed a two-year contract at Feethams, was given a surprise debut by Bennett against Nottingham Forest in midweek, and was only beaten by a penalty and a deflected shot.

But that didn't stop him from enjoying his first game for Quakers after joining earlier in the week.

He said: "The fans in Holland are very quiet, but here they get behind the team. England is a place where football is a culture."

Quakers head for Essex this morning for tomorrow's match with Southend, but they will be without midfielder Paul Campbell, who has a chest infection. However, Lee Nogan and Tom Kaak have both recovered from knocks which kept them out of the Forest game.

STEPHEN Glass, Newcastle's match-winner against Derby, yesterday admitted he came perilously close to quitting Tyneside last season.

The former Aberdeen winger scored his fifth goal in a black and white shirt with a 30-yard wonder goal after coming on as substitute.

But the Toon hero confessed he could easily have left St. James' Park when injury and loss of form restricted him to just one league start for boss Bobby Robson.

Glass, 24, said: "I hoped I would play for the club again but I feared I had kicked my last ball. I couldn't have come much closer to leaving because I asked for a transfer.

"To my knowledge nobody came in. It was a case of keeping my head down and trying to impress the manager.

"I was injured when he arrived at the club and then the team started playing well. But I would have hated to have thrown away my chance here because it's a great place to play.

"That's all in the past now. I can't have hit too many better goals than the one against Derby and I was delighted to score. But the most important thing is that I'm back fighting for a regular place like everybody else."

Glass asked to come off the list in the summer and Robson gladly agreed. "He's had his problems but the lad has done well and it was a lovely left-foot strike," he said.

The Scot could keep his place against Spurs tomorrow in the likely injury absence of £7m striker Carl Cort. Cort is likely to be sidelined for at least a fortnight with hamstring trouble and Newcastle fear defender Nikos Dabizas may be out for a month with a damaged knee - sparking a defensive crisis.

Boss Robson has put a block on French defender Laurent Charvet's £1.25m departure from the club after failing with a renewed bid for Deportivo La Coruna stopper Helder.