Avoid complacency and refocus is the message Martin Gray is sending to his players in the wake of Wednesday’s win over Spennymoor Town.

A burst of emotion followed the vital victory, Gray punching the air in front of Darlington supporters after a tense and testing 90 minutes against one of club’s promotion rivals.

As the teams left the pitch a flare-up involving Moors manager Jason Ainsley and Quakers left-back Ian Watson saw tempers briefly boil over, but order was quickly restored after what was arguably Quakers’ toughest 90 minutes this season.

Goal-line clearances and fine saves by goalkeeper Peter Jameson in the second half protected the one-goal lead, which Darlington took after only 35 seconds via a Graeme Armstrong header and it proved enough to clinch a tenth successive win.

There’s no respite for Gray’s side as today they travel to another top-ten team in Mossley.

“It’s about staying focused now,” said Gray, whose side will need no reminding that they were held to a 2-2 draw by lowly Burscough after beating Spennymoor at the start of the season.

“We were back in for training on Thursday night, had a warm down and got them focused again. We won the game on Wednesday, but we don’t want an after the Lord Mayor’s Show situation.

“We need the same mentality against another tough team. We go there in good form, but it’s vital no complacency creeps in because if it happens I’ll be on to them straight away.”

Mossley should provide another stern test. They are ninth with four of their seven league victories coming against sides in the current top ten, and held second-placed Salford City to a draw a fortnight ago.

It is the first time Quakers have strung together ten wins in succession since the second half of the Northern League season, when they took maximum points in 17 consecutive matches.

Repeating the feat would be remarkable, not that Gray is looking that far ahead as making it a perfect ten already marks progress having been ninth in late September.

The manager said: “It’s been a big effort to win ten games, but at the same time it was something we have had to do to put ourselves in a good position after having some poor results.

“But that was when we had key players injured, too many at the same time. We always said that when we had them back we would challenging and that’s been proven now.

“Ten wins is a massive achievement, and so is beating Spennymoor. It wasn’t just another three points, it was a massive three points.”

On his reaction at full-time, Gray added: “It meant a lot. I don’t care who you’re managing, to beat your local rivals twice in a season is massive, whether you’re the manager of Sunderland or Darlington.

“Spennymoor have a big and strong squad and are a well-managed club. We didn’t have a club two-and-a-half years ago, so to beat them twice this season is a great achievement.”

Having bagged a brace when Darlington defeated their local rivals at the Brewery Field in August, Armstrong’s goal was his third of the season against Spennymoor as Quakers went on the attack at kick-off.

While there were no further goals, under mounting pressure Darlington had to show their defensive capabilities as they ground out a sixth successive clean sheet.

Gray added: “We’re a positive team and we knew that we had to take the game to them. If we allowed them to play, then they’d get a foothold in the game, so that early goal probably winded them for the first ten or 15 minutes.

“It was great to get a an early goal, but that also means you’ve then got to 89 minutes to see the game out.

“There were chances for both teams. We hit the post and the bar, but we did have to dig in and hang on because they came at us.

“They went four up front, they had to because they had nothing to lose, but we defended really well. You expect players to throw themselves in the way of shots and if you do it you get your rewards.”