HARTLEPOOL United's Gary Liddle has called upon Premier League fringe players to join him in the English football league's basement division.

The 20-year-old has relished life in League Two since he made the switch from Middlesbrough last August.

He could have remained at the club he signed for as a schoolboy but playing reserve-team football did not appeal to him.

So when Pools boss Danny Wilson offered Liddle the opportunity to play regular first-team football, he didn't need asking twice.

"I was talking to my family recently and I was saying how I felt that I have improved as a player since coming here," said Liddle, who has made 31 appearances and netted three times since he switched to Victoria Park.

"I have absolutely no regrets about coming to Hartlepool and I have got better because I have been able to play regular first-team football. It has been great.

"I would recommend it to anyone. I know there are a lot of lads who go out on loan from Premiership clubs to lower league clubs and they are happy to do that. But I think you can be far happier to be playing regular first-team football than stuck in the reserves.

"When you get to 20 or 21-years-old you just want to be playing. You can get to 23 or 24 and realise that you have missed out on a lot of experience."

There have been several outstanding candidates leading the way in Pools' ascent to the top of the League Two table, and Liddle is one of them.

His versatility - he has played across the back line and in midfield - has been pivotal in the club's recent 18-match unbeaten run.

Currently he is the midfield anchor, in place of the injured Willie Boland, alongside Anthony Sweeney .

"I have enjoyed playing with Sweens, he has bags of energy and he gets up and down the park so well," said Liddle. "He has weighed in with a few important goals as well.

"We want to keep it going, it would be great to go up as champions."

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

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

"The lads have done really well recently and we're in a great position."