Being among the title challengers as the season approaches the halfway point is of no surprise to Darlington’s midfield metronome Phil Turnbull, and he believes it’s the manager’s ambitious approach which has propelled Quakers to second position.

Having won promotion in each of their previous two seasons, only the most optimistic of supporters were predicting their team would be at the top end of the table at this stage, and, while there is still a long way to go, the signs are promising.

Martin Gray’s men are four points off leaders AFC Fylde, and came close to beating them during last week’s 1-1 draw when Darlington were particularly excellent in the second half.

Had Dave Syers’ late header not been ruled out for offside then Quakers would be only a point behind the fiercely ambitious Fylde, who have long stated they wish to be in the Football League by 2022.

Gray is similarly driven, though more coy publicly. When this week asked about Quakers’ title chances he said: “Where we are as a club right now is a great achievement. We’re at the right end of the table with not even half the season gone, so we’re not talking about winning leagues, we’re talking competing and we have given ourselves a great chance.”

Having spent the best part of 18 months under Gray since joining from Gateshead, Turnbull feels he has the measure of his manager.

He said: “Martin would be the same if we were in the Premier League – he’s a winner and the way he conducts himself in the changing room and in training transfers to the players.

“He does not accept second best, he’s a winner and he inspires those around him.

“If you haven’t got the same mentality as him you won’t be at this club long, it’s as simple as that. He looks at people and he knows what they’re about.

“He brings players to the club and if you’re not here a while it’s probably because you haven’t got the same winning mentality as him.”

While Gray’s aspirational approach is the driving force, it is his players that have collected 37 points so far – one more than at this point last season.

“I did expect us to be challenging near the top to be honest,” added Turnbull.

“The team I was in at Gateshead that went up from this division in 2009 had the odd weakness in places.

“But Martin recruited well in the summer, and if you look at out 11 it is frightening to be honest. Our bench too, we’ve got players that can come on and make a difference.

“Leon Scott and Nathan Cartman came on last week, proven players, so we’ve got a strong squad and I fully expect us to challenge for the title. Just getting into the play-offs would be a disappointment, we’re going for the title.

“You look at Fylde, they’ve only lost one game but we dominated them.

“We’re virtually halfway through the season and there’s some good teams up there, like Kidderminster and Chorley, but we’ve more than matched them.

“Our objective is to win this league, no doubt about it.”

Today Darlington travel to 16th-placed AFC Telford, a team that has lost three matches in a row and scored only 14 goals this season.

The teams last met at the New Bucks Head in the third round of the FA Trophy during February 2011, Quakers winning 3-0 thanks to goals by Gary Smith, Aman Verma and Nathan Modest.

*Ticket prices for Darlington’s FA Trophy tie next Sunday at Heritage Park against Marine are £10 adult, £8 concessions and £2 for children.