Darlington manager Colin Todd remains determined to bring an end to Quakers’ troubles – a period he brands as ‘the hardest of his career’.

Saturday’s defeat to top-ofthe- table Bournemouth means Todd’s team have collected only one point from their first eight league games, leaving Darlington bottom of the table.

They are five points adrift of second-bottom Macclesfield Town who visit The Northern Echo Arena a week on Saturday.

The dreadful start to the season has seen a small minority of supporters voice their concerns over Todd’s position at the club, but most remain behind the manager, as confirmed in a Northern Echo poll carried out yesterday.

A vote on northernecho.co.uk showed 70 per cent of visitors to the website backing Todd.

“It is my hardest time in football, no doubt about that,”

said Todd. “Before this I think I’d only lost something like three games in a row.

“I have no intention of going anywhere. I’m the manager and it’s my job to try and change this situation.

“To a certain degree, as a manager, you’re reliant on the players and what they do on the pitch.

“But I am the leader and I have to try and motivate the players to get better performances out of them.”

On Saturday Todd takes his side to fellow strugglers Grimsby Town, aiming to collect a first away point of the campaign having suffered four defeats on the road.

He added: “We’ve got to show more resolve when we go to Grimsby because our away performances this season have been very poor.

“But one thing we can say is that we are still trying to play football and not just lump the ball forward.

“I had a fan mention that to me after the game on Saturday which was good to hear.

“That is my trademark, I always like to try and play passing football and that’s what we will continue to do.”

Meanwhile, Todd has explained his reasoning for leaving Curtis Main out of the squad on Saturday.

For the second week in a row the teenage striker instead played for the youth team, a 1-0 defeat at Grimsby, seven days after scoring twice against Burton Albion’s junior side.

Todd revealed: “Curtis had an injury in pre-season so he’s better off playing games so he can build up fitness rather than be on the bench for the first team.”

Todd hopes Lee Thorpe will return to action on Saturday.

The veteran forward has missed three games with a groin strain but returned to training yesterday.