TOMMY WRIGHT will complete the signing of striker Reece Styche early next week after Tamworth admitted that Darlington have blown the club “out of the water” by offering greater terms.

Styche has struck ten times this season and will not figure for either side when they meet at Blackwell Meadows this afternoon when the Quakers are already expected to field a number of new recruits.

Wright is desperate to deliver a first win since taking over and since their last game at Blackwell Meadows a fortnight ago – a dreadful 3-0 defeat to Brackley – he has brought in three new faces, with Styche to follow.

When he does eventually make the move from today’s opponents Tamworth he will follow Josh Heaton from Ramsbottom United and Luke Trotman and Greg Mills, both from Nuneaton Town, to have arrived in the last week.

The arrival of Styche, though, will bolster Darlington’s options in the final third and the transfer is something that Tamworth have felt powerless to prevent from happening.

Lambs manager Andy Morrell said: "I think Reece's head has been turned by the offer put on the table from Darlington. He has asked to leave. For financial reasons, he wants the move to happen and I can't have players here who don't want to be at the club.

"I am very disappointed with how it has happened. We have helped him a lot and got him scoring prolifically again but he wants to move on.

"We have been blown out of the water by the offer they have made him. Some of the money on offer at the moment across all of football is frightening and I'm not sure I like it. We had to set a value on what we thought Reece was worth and they have matched it.”

Heaton, meanwhile, made his bow in last weekend’s 3-3 draw at Kidderminster, while right-back Trotman and left-winger Mills will make their debuts today. Styche played under Wright at Nuneaton last season when on loan from Gateshead, before joining Tamworth.

He is joint-fourth in the National League North’s top scorers’ list – level with Spennymoor Town’s Glen Taylor – and his capture will delight Wright, who has played alongside the 28-year-old in 2012 at Forest Green Rovers.

Styche twice played at Blackwell Meadows last season. He was in Wright’s Nuneaton team which won 2-1 in January, before ending the campaign at Tamworth with whom he lost 3-0 in April.

It was a game that Styche involved in a flashpoint with several Darlington players after he had tangled with Stephen Thompson.

While Styche will be tasked with scoring goals, stopping them has also been an issue this season for Darlington, who have conceded three in each of their past three games. Wright trialled a 3-5-2 formation at Kidderminster, and says he will continue to experiment until he finds the winning formula.

He said: “I inherited a group of players last year at Nuneaton that was conceding goals, we went three at the back and had that tremendous run.

“I know how to coach it, I feel very comfortable with it, and then we found ourselves 3-1 down. That formation should not have allowed that to happen.

“But football is football and you don’t play it on a tactics board, players make mistakes. We’ll find what works and then we’ll stick to it.”

He added: “The lads have been used to 4-4-2. They won league titles playing that system, and then someone else comes in and tries 3-5-2 – it’s not going to work overnight.

“The way I want them to play, a bit more football and in a different formation, they’ve got to understand their roles and responsibilities all over again.

“Contact time is two nights a week and some lads have work commitments, so it can get frustrating.”

Wright played for Tamworth in 2012-13, beat them home and away last season as Nuneaton boss, and says he is knowledgeable about their squad, which includes former Quakers team-mate Aman Verma.

He said: “I know loads of their players. I’ve managed Stephen Morley, I know Amar Verma, Callum Powell and Darryl Knights, so I’m well acquainted with their players, I think I know them inside out so I’m suitably prepared and know what to expect.”

Tenth-placed Tamworth, two points above Quakers, have won one of their last seven games, whereas Darlington have won one in nine. Phil Turnbull is suspended today after collecting five bookings.