DARLINGTON need to win a cup tie for the first time since 2015 if they are to overcome AFC Telford United tonight at Blackwell Meadows.

The FA Trophy third qualifying round tie represents Quakers’ latest opportunity to start a cup run, something they have singularly failed to do since the new era of the club began in 2012.

Back in October 2015-16 they beat Mossley 3-2 in the Trophy at Heritage Park, but then lost in the next round to Sutton Coldfield and have since had no success in the FA Cup and Trophy.

They did win a couple of matches in the Doodson Sports Cup, but that was not a competition of importance to Quakers.

The prize money for winning this evening’s game is £5,000, and manager Tommy Wright will hope it is an omen that the last time his club's supporters saw their team face Telford in the Trophy was a third round tie in 2010-11 that Quakers won 3-0. The goals were scored by Gary Smith, Aman Verma and Nathan Modest and at the season's end Darlington won the final at Wembley.

Of more relevance is that this evening’s opposition are one of the four teams Wright’s side have beaten this season, toppling Telford 3-0 at Blackwell Meadows in September.

It was the visitors’ first defeat of the season and a shock one too as they were second in the table.

They are now third with Darlington 15th – after dropping a place when Blyth won midweek – having drawn four league games in a row.

Wright said: “Their manager says they have a point to prove, he’s said they have a record to put straight. So he’s making the right noises, but we won’t underestimate them because we beat them 3-0.

“We’re playing against a team above us in the league and they are up there on merit. But it’s fine margins in football. We’ve probably dropped eight points that would put us up somewhere near Telford.

“There’s no fear factor but we do respect them. They’re third in the league, unbeaten in five – three wins and two draws – and they’re a good team.

“Yes we beat them 3-0, but it was 1-0 for a long period. We played well but missed chances.

“Harvey Saunders got the second to settle the nerves and then Stephen Thompson got a late penalty, but there wasn’t a great deal in the game.

“They are a threat and they have two forwards who are very fast. They are good at set-plays, so they have their qualities, but we don’t fear anyone.

“We don’t change our plans to accommodate any team, but we acknowledge their threats and try to deal with them.

“We know their threats, we are going to try and stop them and we have worked on it.”

Wright retains a lot of belief in his players and is not looking to make immediate reinforcements.

Last Saturday they recovered from being 2-0 against second-bottom Hereford, who scored twice in a game for the first time since August, to draw 2-2.

Wright added: “The league table suggests we’re not a great team. I’ve never said we’re a great team, but we’re a good team that threatens to be very good.

“The corner has definitely turned and we’ll get stronger and stronger as we get more experienced and used to playing with each other. It’s still early days for a lot of them.

“I was happy with the fact we kept probing last Saturday. It’s so easy to go long and hope for a knock down. But we really worked them, we moved them around the pitch, players moved out of position for others to fill.

“We played some really good stuff, but a lot of it went under the radar because people said it wasn’t quick enough. But it’s difficult when the opposition have ten men behind the ball in one half of the pitch.

“We were 2-0 down and there were times last season and this season when we would not have come back from that. I’ve got to take a bit of heart from that.”