DARLINGTON manager Alun Armstrong wants the same again from his players when they go to Hereford in National League North this afternoon.

Quakers have won their last two away games at Telford and Kidderminster to give them the second-best away record in the league with 14 points from nine away games. They need just one more win to equal last season’s figure of five.

They’re currently fourth in the table, a point behind joint-second King’s Lynn and Scarborough, and three behind leaders Brackley.

“I think it’s because we’ve let the players off the leash so to speak,” said Armstrong. “We’ve been a bit braver and letting the opposition try and deal with us, instead of us with them.

“It’s worked out fantastically for us so far – we’re not going to stop, we’re going to continue playing to our strengths and giving the opposition problems rather than us having to work them out first.

“We need to prepare properly for this game. Hereford have had a little bit of a blip recently with two defeats in their last three, but we can’t take that for granted. We’ve got to bounce back from our last league defeat against Fylde.

“I said that we would respond better to a defeat this time and I could feel it amongst the lads before the Trophy game against Alfreton last Saturday.

"The lads did ever so well, and they could have won the game by more. They got the job done without any more injuries, which was massive to us. We’ve got almost a fully-fit squad now.”

Top scorer Mark Beck, who has scored 14 times this season, returns to the starting line-up alongside Jacob Hazel, who was one of the star performers in the Trophy win last week.

“I thought last week’s performance by Jacob was his best for us since he’s been here," said Armstrong. "He led the line really well – everything we did went through him.

"He was just a big nuisance for Alfreton, held the ball up well and linked play. The only thing that was missing was a goal, if he’d done that, he would have been man of the match. His all-round play was superb.”

Hereford are currently 15th in the table, but because of their FA Cup run, have fallen behind in their fixtures, and have at least one game in hand on most of the clubs above them.

Out of their seven home league games this season, they’ve lost only twice. They lost to Portsmouth in the FA Cup at Edgar Street in the first round proper, but only after taking the lead.

“I watched Hereford play Portsmouth in the FA Cup earlier this month," said Armstrong. "They were good in the first half, and they deservedly went in front in that game.

"I think what happens though, after you come off these Cup runs, you have a little blip which they’re having at the moment, just like we did a couple of years ago. But I know what they’re capable of because they have some good players.

“Their manager, Josh Gowling, was Manager of the Month in October, so that shows how well they’ve been playing.

“We’ve got to continue what we’ve been doing, concentrate on ourselves and get the result that’s required.”

Striker Junior Mondal is added to the squad after being Trophy tied, while full-back Kallum Griffiths is also back in the fold after recovering from injury. Another striker, Kaine Felix, has recovered from tonsilitis and also travels.