Darlington tomorrow intend to make the make the most of home advantage for the first time in four weeks, while hope their rivals will continue to falter.

Salford City were the early pacesetters, but have slipped to fourth having lost three league matches in a row, and tomorrow they travel to 11th–placed Lancaster City.

Darlington’s form – nine league wins in a row – has seen them create a three-point gap at the top and tomorrow they face mid-table Clitheroe, one of the teams to have defeated Salford lately.

Defender Chris Hunter, an ever-present in Quakers’ league matches, said: “Salford’s results have been great for us, and their games in hand are starting to go down now, plus we’ve got three points on them.

“Last season, Curzon picked up points almost every week and that’s what we thought Salford were going to do, but the tables have turned a little bit so hopefully we can be the team that nicks 1-0 and 2-0 wins like Curzon did.”

Hunter, though is not satisfied with his own form, despite the playing a full part of a defence that has conceded only two goals in the team’s nine-match winning run.

“My season’s been alright,” he said. “Last Saturday at St Neots I had a good 85 minutes, but then there was a mistake for the third goal. I was in about three or four minds with it, but it happens I guess.

“I don’t think I’ve been at the standard I was last season, but defensively as a team we’ve been awesome, but I can definitely step it up.”

Hunter collected a fifth caution of the season last weekend, triggering a one-match ban to be served when Lancaster visit Heritage Park a week tomorrow when Gary Brown and Liam Hatch, often a stand-in when first-choice defenders are unavailable, will also be suspended.

“We’ve got a strong squad and there are people that can come in and take our place,” said Hunter.

“The pressure was off a little bit last week because even though it was a cup competition and you want to go through, the league is more important and it’s back to business on Saturday and it’s a case of same again if we can.

“Brown did a great job in the centre, but usually Browny is at right-back and with him there and Whitey and me in the middle we’re a big presence. We missed that a bit on Saturday because St Neots were a big side.

“We did really in the first half, two banks of four and Graeme Armstrong up front worked hard. But you can’t sit back and defend for 90 minutes, which we did a little bit after Hatchy’s red card.

“The players were really proud, Martin was proud as punch of the lads, everybody worked their socks off for each other.”