A YEAR after winning promotion from League Two with Northampton, Martin Smith is aiming to repeat that success with Darlington.

The 32-year-old turned down the chance of League One football when he returned to the North-East during the summer.

And, after Darlington's late winner at Torquay United moved Dave Penney's men to within two points of a play-off place, Smith believes they are poised for a promotion push.

"In this division if you just stay in the game you tend to get chances," said the former Sunderland winger.

"The lads have done really well in recent weeks and we've put ourselves in a great position.

"It's always been a tight division and it was the same when I was at Northampton. You only have to string a couple of results together and suddenly you're in with a shout. It's a strong squad now and the manager has been able to have the likes of myself, Jocky (Joachim) and Alun Armstrong on the bench in some games."

Smith appears to be over the virus that has troubled the Wearsider in recent months after coming through the win at Torquay without any problems.

With five of Darlington's remaining 11 games against teams currently in the top seven, Smith has highlighted the importance of a fully-fit squad for the crucial run-in.

"Hopefully we can keep everybody fit because we've got some very tough games coming up," said Smith.

"If we play as well as we know we can then I don't see any reason why we can't push on and get in the play-offs."

An experienced Darlington reserves side was held to a 3-3 draw at the 96.6TFM Darlington Arena yesterday.

However, there was no place in the side for Gaetano Giallanza, whose latest comeback after a knee injury has been delayed by a virus.

Armstrong, who has failed to score in 20 first-team appearances, was on target for Martin Gray's second string.

Out-of-favour defender Darren Holloway added a second from a close-range header before the visitors pulled it back to 2-2. Kalu Ngoma restored Darlington's lead with a header, but Grimsby fought back to earn a point.

Darlington: Stockdale, Duke, Burgess, Collins, Holloway, Johnson, Ngoma, Keltie, Logan, Armstrong, Reay.

Hartlepool United's Gary Liddle is relishing life in League Two since he made the switch from Middlesbrough last August.

"I feel I have improved since coming here," said Liddle, who has made 31 appearances and scored three times.