Neil Wainwright made an impressive return to the Darlington first-team on Saturday and his performance was lauded as magnificent by assistant manager Mark Proctor.

The former Sunderland winger has been a frequent substitute of late and the 1-1 draw at Field Mill was Wainwright's first start in eight games and the 26-year-old certainly took the opportunity with both hands.

Clyde Wijnhard's 66th minute goal owed much to Wainwright's sprint up the right, latching on to Matthew Bates' through-ball, after which the right-winger took the ball to the byline and picked out the unmarked Dutchman to put Quakers ahead.

Although his crossing is not always as reliable as other parts of his game, Saturday's goal represented his eighth assist of the season - the most in the squad this season - and Proctor said: "One thing you can guarantee from Neil is work-rate and energy.

"He's not the best with his decision making in the middle third of the pitch, which we've spoken to him about, but today I thought he put in a magnificent performance.

"He was a constant threat to Mansfield and was fundamental in creating our goal with a nice weighted pass to Clyde.

"Neil's had problems with his final ball this season but today he was spot on. He delivered a terrific ball for the goal and he created numerous other chances.

"Hopefully he can go from strength to strength."

When Wainwright has been in the team this season, as Darlington have predominantly stuck to a 3-5-2 formation, more often that not he's found himself as a right wing-back and having to track back as well as attack down the flank.

But after an awful team performance seven days previously, Quakers reverted to 4-4-2 on Saturday with Wainwright one of five changes and with Ryan Valentine, another change, behind him, the tactical switch paid off.

"He looks more comfortable in that right-wing area because I don't think he's a wing-back," reflected Proctor who revealed that Quakers are likely to stick with 4-4-2 at home to Rushden on Saturday.

"I'm sure he could do that job if we moved back to that formation but in a 4-4-2 he can be very effective because he's quick, dynamic and causes defenders all sorts of problems.

"Generally the team shape was good and there were a lot of positive performances in the team today.

"On the back of a very, very poor showing at Cambridge we've showed our fighting spirit and our quality.

"Hodgy (boss David Hodgson) likes to play three at the back, he's not particularly against a four-man defence, he just prefers the three.

"Team shape is sometimes dictated by the personnel available and the shape of the opposition, so this season we have played a 4-4-2 on occasion and done well on some days and not so well on others.

"Today it was very positive and I would guess that we'll stick with it for next week.

"There were no weak performances, like we've had on occasions this season from some people so I would envisage no changes, but there's a week before the next game and all sorts of things can happen in the meantime."

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