NEW Quakers manager Tommy Taylor will know just how much work he has to do after his reign got off to a bad start on Tuesday night.

Darlington crumbled in the second half of their LDV Vans Trophy second round tie at Scunthorpe United, going down 3-0 to goals by Lee Hodges, ex-Quaker Martin Carruthers and Jamie McCombe.

Tomorrow's league game at Halifax Town has become vitally important and Taylor will be desperate for a good result to pull his new charges out of the rut they find themselves in.

The Shaymen are bottom of Nationwide league division three, but are only four points behind Darlington, whose slide down the table continued after last Saturday's 1-0 home defeat by Hull City.

And luck also seems to have deserted Quakers, with defensive linchpin Craig Liddle ruled out for at least three months by a broken tibia and striker Danny Mellanby missing with medial ligament damage.

Assistant manager Mick Tait took temporary charge for the visit of Brian Little's Tigers, who went ahead just before half-time with a hotly disputed penalty converted by Gary Alexander.

There was still time before the break for Hull's David Beresford to be dismissed for a bad tackle on Phil Brumwell, but the home side were frustrated by solid defence.

Taylor is well aware of the need to add more quality up front to support Barry Conlon, but he may also need to turn his attention to the defence in the enforced absence of Liddle.

Against Scunthorpe, David Brightwell came in for Liddle and Kirk Jackson replaced Mellanby, while Neil Wainwright returned from suspension and Frank van der Geest took over in goal from the rested Andy Collett.

Taylor lived up to his reputation for giving young players a chance to shine by naming youth team forward Mark Sheeran among the substitutes.

Quakers produced a steady first half display, but Conlon missed a gilt-edged chance to put them ahead just before the break when he headed wide from six yards.

The new manager has arrived at a difficult time, with confidence low following a string of poor results, but he needs to stop the rot quickly if the situation is not to get out of control