WITH a quarter of the season already complete, ‘must do better’ is the verdict of Darlington manager Martin Gray.

His team rose to fourth with Wednesday’s win at bottom-of-the-table Bradford Park Avenue, a less than convincing display that followed last weekend’s disappointing draw at lowly Nuneaton Town.

But having conceded 15 goals in 11 fixtures, keeping one clean sheet in that period, the focus of Gray’s ire is clear.

“We’ve all got to continue to improve because I’m not happy with that we’re doing,” said the manager, whose team went 1-0 to Bradford, who had not scored in their previous three fixtures.

“There’s certain parts of our game that we know we’ve got polish up and that’s what we intend to do.

“It’s not good enough, we’re conceding too many. There’s not many teams that have broken us down with great play, if that happens you can accept it.

“But it’s been soft goals and cheap mistakes and that’s not us. We need to look at things.

“You can’t just blame defenders, sometimes it starts with wide players or the front players.”

One area of the team Gray was happy with, however, was in goal where Paul Woolston made his debut.

The 18-year-old has signed on loan from Newcastle United to cover for the injured Peter Jameson.

Gray said: “He was solid and his distribution was good, he reminded me a bit of Sam Russell. He didn’t have an awful lot to do, but what he had to do he did well and his distribution got us up the pitch with quality.

“We were camped on the edge of their box due to his distribution. Teams these days have that in their team.”

Gray’s team take a break from league action on Saturday as they travel to Lancaster City in the second qualifying round of the FA Cup.

Having failed to make an impact in previous seasons, the manager is eager to enjoy a run in the competition.