PHIL STAMP and Clark Keltie will be playing for their Darlington futures when the midfield duo start at Shrewsbury Town tonight.

Both are out of contract in January and manager David Hodgson believes that will provide the perfect motivation for his new-look midfield pairing at Gay Meadow.

With Anthony Peacock rested, Stamp will make his full debut for Quakers, while Keltie will start for the first time this season.

Stamp has struggled for fitness since joining the club on a free transfer in October, and Hodgson insists the former Middlesbrough midfielder is desperate to kick-start his Quakers career.

"It would have been easy to throw Stampy in at the deep end when he joined us, but it would have been unfair to expose him," said Hodgson.

"He's trained really hard and now that he's fully fit he just wants to get started.

"We're not going to get a full 90 minutes out of him, but I know he can still make an impact in the time he is on.

"Now that he's back, it's up to him to show me he is worth a longer contract."

The same would apply to Keltie, whose Quakers deal expires in January. The Newcastle-born 22-year-old has played only a handful of games in 2005 after suffering a cruciate knee ligament injury in January. Keltie was given a short-term deal during the summer, before injuring his ankle.

After making his first appearance of the season against Wycombe last month, Keltie faces the daunting task of proving his worth.

"Clark's attitude has been fantastic and you can see in training how much he wants to do well," said Hodgson.

"He knows what the situation is and now it's up to him to take his chance."

Bert Bossu has told Hodgson he will be fit to continue in goal, despite missing training yesterday with a hand injury.

Matt Clarke will start from the bench, meaning Joey Hutchinson will captain Quakers on his return to the side following injury.

Quakers have failed to win in their last five games, but Hodgson said: "I will be hugely disappointed if we can't go down there and beat them with the attacking football I know we can play."

* Stoke and QPR have been given a week to formally respond to a Football Association request for information which led to the arrest of four men at the end of Saturday's Coca-Cola Championship game.

The FA are to investigate the ugly scenes which unfolded following QPR's 2-1 victory at the Britannia Stadium.

Rangers goalkeeper Simon Royce was confronted, sparking a melee involving players from both teams, backroom staff, match officials and stewards.

Read more about the Quakers here.