HAVING enjoyed playing at Heritage Park in recent seasons, new striker Lee Gaskell today gets to do it today in Quakers colours for the first time after signing this week from Ramsbottom United.

He has swapped a relegation fight for a place in the promotion race, ignoring interest from clubs in the North-West, Curzon Ashton believed to be among them, to join Darlington and will be in the squad today to play Marine.

The 30-year-old has left behind a club bottom of the table without a win in 12 league matches to sign for third-place Quakers, against whom he enjoyed success for Ramsbottom.

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He was a part of their successful side which won promotion in 2013-14, defeating Darlington three times during the season including in the play-offs, while Gaskell scored at Heritage Park last month when Martin Gray’s side won 2-1.

“Every time I’ve played up at Darlington I’ve always enjoyed it in front of the big crowd there, so it was a no-brainer to join,” said Gaskell, who scored an impressive 113 goals in 187 games for Ramsbottom.

“It was always packed with a good atmosphere. The ground is compact with crowd quite close, so if you can’t enjoy playing football there then you never will.

“With Ramsbottom having such a bad start, quite a few clubs came in for me. I was happy with everything that Martin was saying, the way the club is going forward and their massive fan base.

“I’m ambitious in everything I do in life, not just football, and want to win trophies, so the best way to do that was to sign for Darlington.”

Gaskell admits that travelling from his Manchester home for matches and training was a consideration in signing, but points out that many of Quakers’ away games are in the North-West.

He said: “I’ll be able to make most training sessions. I’ve spoken to the gaffer and we’ve come to an agreement that if there’s a big game on he wants to work on shape then I’ll report in.

“With work commitments to think about, he was quite flexible about me having the odd session off. I’m and electrician and work for my dad’s company.

“The travel was an issue. You’re looking at a couple of hours, maybe three and a half if the traffic is bad, but it’s just one of those things. It’s only two hours, it’s not like I have to get a flight. And a lot of Darlington’s away games will be like home games for me.”

He will most likely start on the bench today with Nathan Cartman and Graeme Armstrong continuing up front, the current pairing having scored five goals each. But Gaskell, who is aiming for 25 goals this campaign, is confident he will be handed sufficient time on the pitch eventually.

“Football is cutthroat and you’ve got to work hard and you’ve got to be playing well to stay in the team,” he said.

“I believe that if I’m playing to the best of my ability then I’ll be starting games, if I go off form then I’ll have no excuses and I’ll be dropped.

“As a striker you’ve always got to be looking for 25 goals a season and if you can do that then you’ve done your job for the year.

“When we played up at Darlington it was a tighter game, but Darlington kept the ball very well and probably had 80 per cent possession. It was my type of football, I like the ball at my feet, but if I do need to win it in the air I can do that as well “The way they play football should suit my game perfectly.

“I’ll be meeting up with the lads at the ground on Saturday. One of the coaches came down to Bury on Wednesday afternoon with a form for me to sign to make sure I was registered.”

David Dowson and Adam Nowakowski remain sidelined, while Chris Hunter plays his final game before serving a three-match ban incurred for his red card at Ilkeston a week last Monday.