Darlington aim to climb out of the relegation zone with a fifth successive win on Saturday – but in at Spennymoor Town today they will be up against a team that is also on top form.

Quakers have transformed their season with four straight wins, the most recent being a 4-0 thrashing of promotion-chasing Scunthorpe on Tuesday.

The run has remarkably closed a nine-point deficit and lifted them up to fourth-bottom, level with King’s Lynn on points but with a worse goal difference and one behind Rushall. They have won seven games out of 13 since Steve Watson and Terry Mitchell took over.

But Spennymoor are also in peak form, having won six out of their last eight matches, to banish their relegation fears and give them an outside chance of getting into the play-offs. They are five points below seventh placed Alfreton with ten games to go.

Darlington assistant manager Terry Mitchell said: “Tuesday’s performance was one of the best I’ve been involved with as a team.

“We’re in a really good run of form. We’ve got eight games to go and we’ve got to continue that.

“If we continue this vein of form then 100 per cent we’ll be out of the relegation zone. But it’s one game at a time, if we get that sort of performance in every game, then nine times out of ten, you get the right result. The bar has been set now, and now we’ll hopefully get the same productivity in and out of possession against a team that’s in really good form as well.

“This run has proved what we all knew when Steve and I came in, that’s there are some good players in the dressing room, and the lads we’ve brought in have complemented them. Every game we go into now, we have the mindset that we’re going to win.

“But we know that Spennymoor have won six out of their last eight matches, and this is going to be a game between the two in-form sides in the division – it should be really exciting.”

Midfielders Will Hatfield and Matty Cornish should both be fit after picking up knocks in midweek, while Jarrett Rivers will have a fitness test on a hamstring injury.

Spennymoor go into the game on the back of three straight wins against Bishop’s Stortford, Boston and Alfreton.

They came back from a goal down to beat Alfreton in midweek to maintain their steady improvement under manager Graeme Lee, who was appointed just a couple of days after Watson got the Darlington job at the turn of the year.

“I’m happy with where we’re going at the moment, we’re on a nice run,” he said.

“This will be a fantastic game between the top two forms teams in the division.

“Our second half performance on Tuesday was immense. We were brave enough getting on the ball and we were nicely on the front foot. Every single one of the players stood strong and got their rewards.”

Moors, meanwhile, have lost two players, with David Moyo and Mike Ndjoli returning to Chorley and Hartlepool respectively while they have cancelled the contract of midfielder Connor Shanks.

Lee won the league’s manager of the month award for his team, collecting 14 points out of 21 in February.

“It’s really nice for me and everyone at the club for us to pick up the award,” added Lee.

“When things like this come along, it just reinforces the feeling that we’re all doing something right as a club and this award is certainly not just for me, but for everyone involved.

“We’ve played well over the last month or so and picked up a good number of points but it’s important we don’t take our foot off the gas because we want to go and finish the season as strongly as possible now.”

Midfielder Matty Dolan missed Tuesday’s game because of illness and is expected to return to the squad.