DARLINGTON need little motivation to progress in the FA Trophy tomorrow when they take on Marine at Heritage Park.

Aware that his team have made little impact in either the Trophy or the FA Cup in recent seasons, manager Martin Gray is eager for his team to finally enjoy an extended run in a knockout competition.

Since winning the Trophy at Wembley in 2011 Darlington have made little headway in the competition, and have been similarly poor in the FA Cup, this season losing at Lancaster City at the first hurdle.

As well as keen to do well in the non-league’s premier knockout competition, the manager wants to see a much-improved performance to atone for last week’s below-par display when losing 2-0 at Telford United, a game that came just a week after leaders AFC Fylde were fortunate to draw at Darlington.

“We’re going to put out as strong a team as we can. I want to get a win and I want a cup run – I really mean it,” vowed Gray, who yesterday brought in goalkeeper Ben Dudzinski from Hartlepool United on loan.

“This game will be treated the same as Fylde was, I want that same performance, I want that standard and I want a win.

“Losing last Saturday hasn’t changed anything, I would’ve played a strong team anyway in the Trophy. We must give the fans something to shout about.

“The league form has been great for the last three or four seasons, but the cup form has been poor and we need to change that.”

Dudzinski goes straight into the team as a replacement for Peter Jameson, who begins a three-match suspension having been red-carded at Telford for violent conduct.

It was 0-0 when he saw red in the second half, instigating a defeat when the match had been heading for a draw.

Jameson’s aberration apart, Quakers were not at their best, but after a second successive away defeat Gray dismissed the notion that his team have become predictable to play against.

“Every club has those games from time to time. You question yourself, but goals change games.

“We had two great chances just before half-time, had we taken them it would’ve put a different perspective on the game completely.

“Those chances didn’t go in, but I still didn’t see us getting beat. Then the sending off came. It was a double blow and I can’t get my head around it. “Peter is fouled, his reaction deserves a sending off but it’s also a penalty. It was a double punishment for me.”

Darlington were also defeated at Tamworth, another disappointing display at the beginning of the month, and the manager added: “We’ve got different styles of play. Other managers say we’re hard to play against and can do both sides of the game well.

“Key players need to be on their game. Some of our key players weren’t as good on the ball last Saturday compared to Fylde.

“We also need that clean sheet mentality back, I’m searching for it I really am.”

Marine are 18th in the division below and have won only one of their last nine league fixtures, but last season inflicted one of only two defeats Darlington suffered at Heritage Park.

They won 1-0 after scoring a 76th minute penalty conceded by Alan White, who was red-carded after the match after an altercation with an assistant referee.

* Former Darlington defender Exodus Geohagan has joined Nuneaton Town as a player-coach.

Nuneaton, who travel to Darlington on January 7, are managed by ex-Quakers striker Tommy Wright.