Darlington caretaker boss Mick Tait was last night counting the cost of Sunday's battling draw at Wrexham after it was revealed defender Stuart Whitehead had damaged ankle ligaments.

The former Carlisle man now faces a race against the clock to be fit in time for Saturday's derby with table-toppers Hartlepool after limping off in the at the Racecourse Ground.

Tait will be without Gary Pearson for one game - the rearranged home game with Cambridge on March 11 - after he was sent off for a second bookable offence on Sunday.

But it is the immediate loss of Whitehead which remains Tait's No 1 concern.

"All we can do at the moment is wait and see how Stuart's injury heals," said Tait. "It's pretty much the same situation as Clark Keltie where we've just had to wait.

"Hopefully he'll be fit in time for Saturday but at the moment we can't really say whether he's going to be fit or not."

Saturday's visit of Pool will be the first time Tait has met with his former club in a mangerial position.

The former Pools boss spent over two years at Victoria Park before being shown the door in January 1999.

And Tait, who was part of Tommy Taylor's coaching team when Quakers suffered a demoralising 4-1 Victoria Park defeat in September, is warning of a backlash from his side who have failed to win in their last six outings.

"We really want to have a go this time around," said Tait. "We've got our pride to think of and I want every player to be fully committed.

"We're desperate to win that game and we'll be doing everything we can to win it.

"The players will be ready and hopefully we're going to get the right result."

And while Tait would relish the chance to put one over his former employers, Quakers are fast becoming the Division's draw specialists.

The stalemate at play-off chasing Wrexham was Quakers' 15th of the season.

"We know that we can come away to any of the top teams and play well against them," said Tait.

"We've came away with a point in a lot of them when really we could have won. I don't know why but when we play at home we play with a bit of fear.

"The players don't express themselves as much as they do when they go away. If we're to get anywhere this season we need to overcome that.

"We're a better team than our league position suggests.

"However, we are where we deserve to be because we haven't been winning games at home."

Meanwhile, Keltie is making steady progress from ankle injury which ruled him out at the weekend, although he is unlikely to figure in tomorrow night's reserve game at home to Hull City.

Striker Danny Mellanby, who came on for the last seven minutes at Wrexham, is expected to start as he continues his build-up to full fitness.

Read more about the Quakers here.