Darlington caretaker boss Mick Tait is hoping to introduce the Clarke and Clark show when his side locks horns with Third Division high-flyers Wrexham tomorrow afternoon.

For the second time this season defender Matt Clarke is expected to answer Tait's SOS call for a striker in the absence of suspended top scorer Barry Conlon.

Clarke's two-goal blast as a second half emergency striker earned Quakers their first and so far only victory of 2003 when they came from behind to beat Kidderminster in January.

While Clarke remains defiant that his preferred position is at the back, Tait will have few doubts about playing him at the other end of the pitch if he can reproduce his goalscoring heroics and help Quakers bring to an end an alarming slump of results which has seen them win just once in their last nine outings

And providing he receives the all-clear from the referee to wear a padded cast, Clarke should take his place in attack alongside Ian Clark.

The former Halifax man has missed Quakers' last four games after badly slicing open his thumb at home, but Tait is confident of receiving the green light to play him.

"We think he'll be alright, but obviously the decision will be made by the referee before Sunday's game," said Tait.

"Matt had the plaster taken off on Tuesday.

"He has a plastic cast on, but we need to find out whether he can play with that on or not.

"If we get a bit of padding on it we will be OK."

With Conlon serving a one-match ban and Glenn Naylor recovering following a cartilage operation, Tait has limited attacking options.

The former Hartlepool boss had been hoping to run the rule over the fitness of Danny Mellanby during the midweek reserve fixture against Hull which was cancelled. The 23-year-old has returned to full training following back and leg injuries, but is still lacking match practice.

"We did everything we could to keep that game on but in the end we couldn't do it because Hull didn't have enough players available," said Tait.

"They couldn't get permission to get kids off college and they didn't have enough pros available to play.

"It's unfortunate for Danny because he really could have done with a game.

"If he takes part on Sunday he's going to be well short of match fitness."

Meanwhile, midfielder Clark Keltie is still "touch-and-go" for tomorrow's game with an ankle injury picked up against Lincoln last week.

Should the 19-year-old fail to recover in time then Tait has a variety of options with Paul Campbell, Neil Wainwright and Richard Hodgson all fighting for a starting place.

Campbell impressed after replacing Keltie last week, while Wainwright will be looking to force his way back into Tait's plans on his return to his former club after missing the Lincoln game with a hamstring injury.

Hodgson, who was dropped last week, could also feature.

Tait may be tempted to revert back to a 4-4-2 formation with Ashley Nicholls partnering Neil Maddison in the centre of midfield, with Wainwright and Hodgson operating either flank.

Quakers were 2-0 winners on their last visit to the Racecourse Ground when they dumped Denis Smith's side out of the FA Cup in November.

Tait would no doubt welcome a similar outcome this time around against eighth-placed Wrexham but warned that this would only be achieved by matching the kind of work-rate which saw Quakers lose just once in Tait's opening 12 games in charge.

"We only got that result because of how hard we worked and how good our attitude was on the day," said Tait.

"Anything short of that and we will have a really difficult game on our hands.

"I've seen them a few times this season and they're a really good side. They're one of the better teams in the league even though they're not quite at the top."

In-form Wrexham, who have won four of their last five league games, have no injury worries ahead of tomorrow's clash although Paul Edwards is ruled out through suspension.

With 21 league goals to his name this season, Wrexham boast the Division's top scorer in striker Andy Morrell and he will partner Lee Trundle in attack.

Read more about the Quakers here.