Tommy Taylor wants the Darlington players to ensure all of last week's hard training doesn't go to waste this afternoon when he takes his side across to Carlisle.

The team last week trained without a day off in preparation for the visit of Cheltenham Town, but Taylor's plans for Saturday's match were scupperd by the sudden heavy downfall of snow, and the Quakers' blank weekend saw Darlington drop to 14th position - nine points away from the play-off places.

"The training's not all gone to waste because we've got the Carlisle game now," said Taylor, admitting: "We did train with Cheltenham in mind because they have some very big lads in the side but I think Carlisle can be a bit physical too so we may use the same tactics as we would have done on Saturday but I'll keep people guessing on that one!

"With not playing, we slipped behind on Saturday and if we're going to move up the league we need a win at Carlisle."

Taylor is expecting a tough game today as Carlisle face hitting the bottom of the league if they lose and Halifax win at Macclesfield.

He said: "Before I was here they drew with us 2-2 and by all accounts they made things very difficult for us.

"They've got a few players back in the team after injury so they'll want to impress the boss but like I've said before, it doesn't really worry me what the other team do - it's what we do that counts.

"I give all our players a job and if they do what I tell them we won't have any problems."

The amount of injuries and suspensions which have torn into Taylor's squad has seriously hampered his team selection for today's clash against the only visiting team to have scored more than once at Feethams this season.

On that day back in September, the Cumbrians, who featured former Quaker Stuart Elliott who has since drifted into non-league with Durham City and now Scarborough, held a two-goal lead before strikes from Neil Wainwright and Barry Conlon rescued a point.

Today's game is the last of Mark Ford's three-match suspension - he'd have been available were it not for the Cheltenham game being postponed - while Barry Conlon must sit out this afternoon's fixture as well as Saturday's trip to Bristol Rovers.

With Gary Caldwell and Dan Chillingworth having returned to Newcastle and Cambridge respectively, Taylor has spent more time on the telephone to potential new players than he has spent enjoying Christmas - but with Craig Liddle (shin), Adam Reed (knee), Paul Campbell (back), Keith Finch, Mark Convery (both flu) all unavailable, he's desperate to bring in new blood.

A striker is his immediate concern with Carlo Corazzin of Oldham and Sunderland's Michael Proctor already short-listed, but he has also revealed an interest in an unnamed Scottish forward.

"There's a player from Scotland I can have on loan if I want to but he's on a hell of a lot of money," said Taylor.

Considering Carlisle and Darlington have totalled 97 yellow cards and ten red between them this season, it's a fair bet this Boxing Day clash could turn into exactly that.