DARLINGTON start their season at home to Exeter City today and it may come as something of a relief to manager Dave Penney to say goodbye to the summer and finally get the campaign under way.

With the lack of finances his major gripe, Penney has endured a frustrating pre-season that has at least presented him with an interesting dilemma: when to play Curtis Main.

The 16-year-old striker has played his way into Penney’s thinking by taking advantage of a lack of fit forwards and holding his own during appearances after coming off the bench.

Penney would have preferred to have used senior professionals during friendlies but neither Adam Proudlock, Pawel Abbott or Gregg Blundell have been fully fit.

Penney was further hampered by being unable to bring in a replacement for Tommy Wright until his transfer was concluded yesterday.

Chairman George Houghton had told Penney that a new striker could only be funded with the money from Wright’s deal, believed to be worth around £75,000, plus his freed up wages.

Penney yesterday acted fast to bring in 20-year-old striker Billy Clarke from Ipswich Town on loan, while he also signed 28-year-old midfielder Robin Hulbert.

In pre-season Penney was pushed into involving Main and fellow teenager Michael Smith.

South Shields-born Main made his Darlington debut, then aged 15, at the end of last season in the win at Peterborough United when Quakers were in the midst of an injury crisis.

Three months on and little has changed as Penney’s forwards are again struggling for fitness, so Main could even find himself on the bench again today if he has recovered from an ankle problem.

Penney is keen to keep the spotlight off the talented teenager, but is aware that football supporters love to see a local lad given a chance.

Main sustained his ankle injury while warming-up at half-time in the game with Middlesbrough on Tuesday, but supporters not aware of the incident later called for his introduction.

“People are going to be screaming for Curtis to play but he’s only just turned 16 so we have to be careful with him,” said Penney.

“It can go the wrong way if you play them too much and knock them back.

“I’ve already heard the clamour for him to play and it’s not just from supporters, it’s from people within the club.

“I’ll assess it. If he has one bad game it could knock him for a long time but he’s coming on nicely and coming on as a sub has been forcing my hand – he’s effectively been saying ‘Look, I’m here’.

“Michael has been excellent as well but he’s only 16 too.

They’re both young lads who you’ve got to nurture and bring into the game at the right time.”

Although the season starts today, the transfer deadline is not until the end of the month, while clubs can sign players on loan well after that date. So Penney has plenty of time, if not money, to bolster his strikeforce.

He added: “We want to let the youngsters develop properly but they’ve been involved in the first-team in pre-season and if we can’t sign the players we want then we’ll have to play these kids.

“If Curtis and Michael aren’t going to be involved with me then Craig Liddle and Neil Maddison are certainly going to have a good youth team with those two playing up front.”

Clarke’s arrival yesterday reduces the pressure on Penney to include Main this afternoon, though he could be involved when Darlington play in the Carling Cup at Walsall on Tuesday, when seven substitutes will be permitted.

Pawel Abbott (Achilles) is not ready for a full 90 minutes yet so Clarke, a Republic of Ireland youth international, will be competing with Gregg Blundell for a starting spot alongside Adam Proudlock.

Proudlock will be one of several Darlington debutants today.

Other new signings likely to start are Simon Brown, Clayton Fortune, David Poole and Adam Griffin.

Clarke spent six months on loan last season with Falkirk while Hulbert had been with Port Vale for the last four years, making 55 appearances.

Exeter will be making their first visit to the Arena today having spent five seasons in non-league.

They will include former Sunderland striker Marcus Stewart in a line-up that is likely to feature ten of the side that won last season’s Blue Square Premier play-off final.