DARLINGTON manager Alun Armstrong wants his team to start positively when they go to Chorley for their first away game in National League North tomorrow afternoon.

Quakers’ second-half display against Gloucester in their 3-1 win last week was better than their first, and Armstrong wants a better start from his players to give them the platform for their second win of the season to add to the first-day optimism.

“We must start in a positive manner and be much more positive at the start of the game than we were last week against Gloucester,” he said.

“It was an edgy affair for the first 30 minutes, mainly because the lads were getting used to the formation we were playing and to each other.

“But the lads stuck at it, and once they got their understanding going, they deservedly won the game.”

Three new forward signings - Mark Beck, Kaine Felix and Jacob Hazel - were all on target last week to give Quakers a league win on the opening day for the first time in Armstrong’s spell in charge of the club.

“Many people have said that that we would have lost that game last season, because we didn’t have someone to put the ball in the net with the chances that we created," added the Quakers boss.

"Now we’ve got players in the team who are capable of doing that, as they showed last week.

“We also now have the experience of Jake Lawlor and David Wheater at the back, and the midfield looks more solid and not as open as we have been in the past.

“Last Saturday’s win was chalk and cheese combined to our opening day against Alfreton last season, when we started the season late because of Covid and lost 3-2. Look at the people who we’ve got in now compared to then, they’re a different kettle of fish.

“I spoke to our chief executive, David Johnston, after last Saturday, and we’ll be disappointed, with the squad we’ve got, if we’re not up there challenging for the play-off places.

“But that’s not going to be given to us, we’ve got to graft and earn the right to be in the play-off places. We have to go to places like Chorley and Southport and expect tough games.

“Chorley is a difficult place to go to. I know their manager, Andy Preece, and he knows what management is all about.

"This is their first home game in the league, and they’ll want to bounce back from their defeat at Telford last Saturday.

"We’ve been working extremely hard in training, and so if we get results at Chorley and then at Southport on Tuesday, I’ll be delighted.”

Defender Jassem Sukar, who was unavailable last week, and midfielder Jarrett Rivers, who has recovered from injury, will both be added to the squad for tomorrow's game, but midfielder Danny Rose is still injured.

Meanwhile, the game between Spennymoor Town and Darlington on August 27 at the Brewery Field will now kick off at 1pm instead of 3pm.

The game will be all-ticket, with both clubs set to announce ticketing details in due course.