SHOULD today’s game beat the weather, Darlington are due to hand debuts to two players who have arrived from the same part of the country but have very different backgrounds.

When Rochdale visit the Arena – subject to a 9.30am pitch inspection – both winger Seb Carole and midfielder Michael Flynn are likely to taste League Two action for the first time in their careers.

They have both arrived via west Yorkshire; Carole from Leeds, Flynn joining on loan from Huddersfield. But the similarities end there.

For when Paris-born Carole was beginning his career with Monaco in 2002, Welshman Flynn was making a name for himself in the League of Wales for Barry Town.

Flynn had started his career at Newport County and after scoring an impressive 40 goals in two seasons for Barry, spent time in the Championship and League One with Wigan, Blackpool and Gillingham.

The midfielder is likely to play today, while French winger Carole also hopes for a starting spot six years after playing in the Champions League for Monaco.

After leaving the principality for England in 2005, shortly after a brief loan at West Ham United, Carole has since spent most of his time in the Championship.

He played regularly during two consecutive seasons in English football’s second tier for Brighton and Leeds. That both years ended in relegation is probably not mentioned on his CV.

After being released by Leeds in August, having featured sparingly under Dennis Wise and Gary McAllister last season in League One, Carole had been without a club until Darlington declared an interest.

Sheffield United manager Kevin Blackwell, who signed him for Leeds, allowed Carole to train with the Blades until he found employment.

But when a player with such a background signs for a club in the Football League’s basement division, the instinctive reaction is to ask why?

“He just wants to play football, he wants to give us a go,”

explained Quakers manager Dave Penney. “It wasn’t difficult to persuade him to come here because he’s a good kid and he wants to play.

“Everybody I’ve spoken to says he’s a Championship player and he has the right attitude.

“He played a few games in European football when he was with Monaco and then went to Brighton, which was a big step for him.

“He then went to Leeds, who bought him for £300,000, but there’s since been a change of managers. He still lives in the north so it suits everyone really.

“He played against us when we had a behind-closed-doors game at Leeds’ training ground in July and he’s got bags of talent. I’ve seen enough of him in training, even on Astroturf, over the last couple of days to know that.”

Carole came close to signing for Bradford, Millwall showed an interest and he says he was offered a chance to take his talents to Turkey.

But Carole reckons playing for Quakers will provide more playing opportunities and he said: “I got a call asking if I would be interested in joining Darlington and straight away I said ‘why not’.

“I needed to get back into competitive football, I want to play every week. I have been playing for Sheffield United reserves as it was important to keep fit so when Darlington came in I said ‘yes’.

“What I need is somebody who believes in me, someone who needs me to start playing games right now.

“I trained twice with Bradford and they offered me a contract. I had a chat with the manager, Stuart McCall, but I didn’t want to be just part of a group of players, I wanted to play.

“So I said I would think about it and then Darlington phoned me two days after that. I needed to feel part of the team and that’s how I felt when I met Dave Penney.”

Trabzonspor were also interested.

“They wanted me but in the Turkish Premier League you can’t sign until the January transfer window,”

explained Carole, who played at the Arena in a friendly for Leeds in 2007.

“I have played in the Championship and I was at Leeds for two years, where I had many ups and downs.

“Now I am looking for a fresh start.”

Carole prefers to play on the left but is right-footed, so Penney must choose between him and Rob Purdie to play on the right flank as Darlington face Rochdale for the first time since last season’s play-off semi-finals.

Jason Kennedy scored one of the best goals seen at the Arena in Quakers’ first leg win, but Flynn’s arrival means he could miss his first league game of the season.