DARLINGTON defender Terry Galbraith will celebrate a personal milestone this afternoon, and is hoping Quakers’ home game with Telford United will take the club another step closer to the ultimate aim of a return to the Football League.

Galbraith will make his 200th Darlington appearance later today, following in the footsteps of Stephen Thompson and Leon Scott, who have also racked up a double-century of games since 2012.

The full-back has been with Quakers throughout their journey through the non-league ranks, and while he has had plenty to celebrate in his five seasons with the club, he is hoping that even better times still lie ahead.

“To think that I’ve been at the club for nearly five years, and to be where we are now compared to where we were then, it’s been a brilliant journey,” said Galbraith. “I hope the journey continues again this season. There have been three promotions in five years, so to get a fourth by helping the club get back into the National League, would be brilliant.

“We’ve got some brilliant players who can help us step into the next league, and even the league above.”

Galbraith has a goalscoring average of one every four games – not bad for a player who is recognised as a left back – and said; “I’m the team’s penalty taker, so most of my goals have come from the spot. But the goal I will always remember the most is the equaliser at Spennymoor in the Northern League, because it was the turning point of that season.”

His best memories have been Quakers’ three promotion winning matches. “They’re in order of progression – first winning the EvoStik League at Whitby, the second winning promotion from the First Division North against Bamber Bridge, and the third winning promotion from the Northern League at Heritage Park.”

Quakers have started the season with three wins and a draw to put them third in the table, level on points with Southport and Harrogate Town, and two behind 100 per cent leaders Brackley.

They have shown no ill-effects from the disappointment of last season’s failure to contest the play-offs, but assistant manager Brian Atkinson accepts it is much too early to start getting carried away with his side’s impressive start.

“We’ve had a great start to the season, but basically we must try and take one game at a time,” said Atkinson. “It’s been a difficult start to the season including a couple of away games against top opposition. Every game is a test, the standard is that good in this league.

“Ten points out of 12 is a satisfying haul, but we have to keep that run going now. We’ve played four games, they’re coming thick and fast, but we just need to lose one or two and suddenly we’re in a slump. We must treat each game as it comes, keep everyone fit and well, and be prepared for the next game.”

Quakers come into today’s game on the back of a hard-fought goalless draw at York City when they had to be at their best defensively in a real ding-dong thriller.

“It was a great performance against York on Tuesday night, because they’re a very good team. Our lads stood up to the task brilliantly. It was a great game of football and a 0-0 draw, but probably the best I’ve ever seen as a 0-0 draw. It was really pleasing to keep a clean sheet, and we must keep that going. We could even have pinched it near the end with the chances we had. It was a proper game, and it was a great advert for our level of football.

“It’s early season and teams are still getting to know each other. Martin and I went down to watch Telford United play at Curzon Ashton on Monday night. They were very well-organised and had some good players – they’ll be a tough game today.”

Defender Gary Brown has declared himself fit after sustaining a head injury that saw him subbed at York in midweek, so manager Martin Gray could choose the same team for the fifth successive game.

Telford have changed their manager during the close season, bringing in Rob Edwards from Wolves, and he has utilised the links by bringing in several players from his previous club, the latest being striker Marcus Dinanga. They won their opening game of the season at York City, but since then they have lost to Brackley, Salford and Curzon Ashton.