AFTER three wins on the road, Darlington aim to bring their good away form back to Blackwell Meadows as they make a return to their own patch.

They have been away on six of the last seven Saturdays, with a defeat to York City the only home date in that sequence, though there have been Blackwell matches in midweek (against Bradford Park Avenue and Blyth).

They will not be at Blackwell for the next week two Saturdays either with trips to Tamworth and Guiseley to come.

So beating Boston United tomorrow would give supporters something to cheer and maintain the momentum created by winning in successive weeks at Trafford, Alfreton and Leamington.

“We haven’t had enough home games for the fans,” admitted manager Alun Armstrong.

“The last one, York, we played well but we couldn’t put the ball in the net and we didn’t get the result.

“York defended well and nicked it. That’s what we did at Leamington, defended well and nicked it with two quality goals.

“One of the things I said when I came in is that we’ve got to get these fans back and start performing at home. I can’t remember many bad performances at home, but Bradford Park Avenue has stayed with me, that hurts still because we were slow and laboured.

“Other than that, performances at home haven’t been bad.”

Beating Leamington last week led to Darlington being given a third successive away tie in the FA Cup, a visit to Tamworth.

Armstrong added: “We’ve not had much luck with the cup draws with getting away ties. I was desperate for a home draw for the fans.

“At least Tamworth isn’t as far as Hereford, but it means moving a Saturday home game, Kidderminster, to a Wednesday, which is a bit of a blow.”

Stephen Thompson may be missing against Boston with a groin strain sustained a fortnight ago at Alfreton.

“We’ll see how he is, but I’ve got to be mindful that there’s a big game next week,” said the manager. “When you think what’s at stake is it worth risking him? It’ll be up to him, really, to see how he feels.”

Justin Donawa has scored after coming off the bench in each of the last three games, but is now on international duty with Bermuda alongside Osagi Bascome.

“It’s a bit of a blow as we’ll not have that impact, but we’ve got to deal with it and see what we can get out of the game,” added Armstrong. “But the way the lads are playing at the minute there is no reason we cannot get a win after what they’ve done over the last three weeks.”

Also unavailable is Ben Hedley, who has slotted in at right-back recently but serves a one-match ban for reaching five cautions.

“Ben is suspended so we need to decide do we go with a back-three or a back-four. That’s one we need to look at, but I don’t like changing too much, especially when we’ve had three good results on the bounce.”

Boston were one of only two teams, relegated FC United being the other, that Darlington beat both home and away last season, winning 1-0 in October 2018 at Blackwell with Ashley Jackson scoring an own goal.

Much has changed since with most of Tommy Wright’s men having been moved on, Jonny Burn being the latest to head through the exit door after this week agreeing to cancel his contract in return for a pay-off.

Darlington are 15th, Boston are ninth and while the Pilgrims have won away just once they, like Quakers, have won two FA Cup away matches, at Sutton Coldfield and Stamford.

They this week signed experienced attacking midfielder Martyn Woolford, and Armstrong said: “Boston have got a lot of players to choose from so you never know what you’re going to come up against. Formation-wise you do, but they have lot of options in the squad.

“They are having a good go this year, they’ll be up there so they’ll give us a tough game and we’ll have to be at our best.

“If we’re not at it you’ll not get anything out of the game.

“We’ve got to be off for it on Saturday and the training has been different class. They’re all up for it and raring to go.

“If we can get a win then we’ll go into the cup game on a real high.”