Darlington visit a familiar League Two stopping point this evening, when they travel to Bury hoping it will not be their last visit for sometime.

Along with the likes of Rochdale and Lincoln, Gigg Lane has been a regular port of call throughout the last 18 seasons during which time Quakers have been in the basement division.

But while fourth-placed Bury are hoping to leave the division via promotion, bottom- of-the-table Darlington’s stay in League Two is under severe threat due to relegation.

Steve Staunton’s side require a series of consecutive wins if they are to stand any chance of avoiding the drop, though captain Ian Miller has not given up hope.

He says the players are attempting to remain upbeat, despite Saturday’s home defeat to Torquay being their fifth loss in a row.

“None of the lads feel as though this isn’t going to turn around,” he said. “All the lads are trying to stay as buoyant as possible.

“It’s not nice with the way results going the way they have been. But we can see positives in each of the performances that we’ve been putting in and we’ve got to draw on that.

“We lost 3-1 on Saturday but it’s no good thinking that the season’s over. We’ve still got numerous games left to play.

“It’s not easy though, I won’t lie to you and pretend everything is hunky dory but the lads are keeping their heads up which is what the manager is asking of us.

“He doesn’t want anyone to give up or drop their head because as soon as you think the season is all over then it will become an embarrassment.”

Miller will line-up in a defence that will feature a change if Staunton reverts to 4-4-2 following Saturday’s experiment with 3-5-2.

Defender Andrew Milne, who rejoined on loan from Leeds United on Friday, is in contention against the Shakers who have lost only one of their last 13 matches.

But Bury manager Alan Knill, who watched Darlington’s home defeat to Port Vale last Tuesday, is bidding to end a run of three consecutive goal-less draws.

Saturday’s with Dagenham saw jeers from frustrated supporters while there were also boos at the Arena following Darlington’s defeat to Torquay, though Miller would like Quakers supporters to show some patience.

He said: “It is difficult for the fans. I’ve been a fan and you want to see your team winning and getting points week in, week out but it’s not as easy as that.

“Not all fans understand that and I don’t think they all will have left the game on Saturday thinking we played some decent stuff in patches, which we did, they will see that we lost 3-1 at home again.

“They’ve paid their money so they are entitled to their opinion and nobody should ever stop them from having an opinion, but if you’re a Darlington supporter then you support us through thick and thin and right now we’re going through a rough patch.

“It was only this morning I was watching a video of the play-off semi-final against Rochdale. How many thousands were here that day?

That made me think that the ones who are turning up now really are the loyal supporters.

I just think sometimes you’ve got to take the rough as well as the smooth.”

Darlington (probable): Redmond, Madden, Miller, White, Giddings, Mulligan, Dempsey, Waite, Gray, Purcell, Diop.