Darlington manager Mick Tait last night praised Ashley Nicholls for the way in which the midfielder has responded after his omission from the side earlier this season

The 21-year-old now appears to be back to his best after an indifferent start to the season, which resulted in him being dropped for two games.

And since returning to the side and finding the form which made him a hit with the fans last season, Quakers have not been beaten in the four League games Nicholls has played in.

"I said earlier this season that I knew Ash would come back stronger and that's exactly what he has done," said Tait

"There are all sorts of reasons why players suffer from loss of form and you usually find that it's not down to the players themselves

"It can be down to a combination of things and sometimes players aren't happy playing in certain systems. Ash has been playing a lot deeper lately and he seems to have adapted to it very well.

"We gave Ash a bit of a break and he looks a lot better for it."

Neil Wainwright could be back in first-team action in as little as a fortnight according to Tait.

There were concerns that the former Sunderland and Wrexham winger would be out for up to six weeks with a broken ankle.

But after meeting with a specialist it was discovered that Wainwright had only twisted his ankle after falling just 22 seconds into Saturday's draw at Torquay.

And Tait revealed: "Neil has made very good progress already," said Tait. "The specialist has told us that he will be out for three to four weeks, but there's still a chance he could be back in two."

Australian midfielder Russell Waller has returned to his homeland after failing to recover from a knee injury. "It's a shame because Russell looked an excellent prospect when we brought him here," said Tait. "We've allowed him to go home and get himself sorted where hopefully he'll make a full recovery."

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